MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'animal testing'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:30:08 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008662&cid=t_122351_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fjg8EpAu81jA%2F And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. As always, this is the signal to daydream about weekend plans. Our agenda calls for a dip in the pool, a little yardwork, hanging with assorted short people and catching up on some interesting R&D. What about you? Is a day at the beach in order? Or a drive in the country? Maybe catching up on some sleep or thinking big thoughts? Whatever you do, have a good time and be safe. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits. See you soon… Bayer Loses European Patent For Yasmin (Reuters) PETA Proposes Procter & Gamble Stop Animal Testing (Dayton Business Journal) Republicans Complain FDA Review Procedures Slow Innovation (Bloomberg News) Bydureon Diabetes Med Passed The Test In Heart Trial (Reuters) FDA Bans Imports From Dr. Reddy&#8217... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008662 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:04:58 +0100 5008662 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361287&cid=t_122351_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F01%2F17%2Freboxetine_doesnt_work_but_thats_not_the_real_problem.php Some time ago, I took nominations for Least Useful Animal Models. There were a number of good candidates, many of them from the CNS field. A recent report makes me think that these are even stronger contenders than I thought. The antidepressant reboxetine (not approved in the US, but sold in a number of other countries by Pfizer) was recently characterized by a German meta-analysis of the clinical data as "ineffective and potentially harmful". Its benefits versus placebo (and SSRI drugs) have been overestimated, and its potential for harm underestimated. It was approved in Europe in 1997, and provisionally by the FDA in 1999, although that was later rolled back when more studies came in that showed lack of efficacy. Much has been made of the fact that Pfizer had not published many of the... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361287 Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:03:08 +0100 4361287 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3505136&cid=t_122351_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fvq3oMKtlz6o%2F Industry expansion in China continues unabated as Charles River Laboratories agreed to buy WuXi Pharma Tech, a Chinese outsourcing services firm. The deal would apparently be the largest foreign takeover of a Chinese company and, significantly, would give Charles River testing facilities in Shanghai, Suzhou and Tianjin in China, where labor and laboratory costs are cheaper (see statement). Overall, the CRO market in China is growing up to 30 percent a year, according to Jinsong Du, an analyst in Hong Kong at Credit Suisse. “This is a vote of confidence that China will be the main location for drug R&D outsourcing in the future,” he tells Bloomberg News, adding that Charles River gets to eliminate a potential competitor in the process. Du also notes Charles River gets a “very... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3505136 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:23:52 +0100 3505136 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3327281&cid=t_122351_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2010%2F03%2F03%2Ffat_rats_make_poor_test_subjects.php Well, here's a brow-furrowing paper, courtesy of PNAS. Th authors, from the National Institute on Aging, contend that most laboratory rodents are overfed, under-stimulated, and are (to use their phrase) "metabolically morbid". This affects their suitability as control and experimental animals for a wide variety of assays. There seem to be effects across the board - the immune system, glucose and lipid handling, cardiovascular numbers, susceptibility to tumors, cognitive performance. The list is a long one, and the route causes seem to be ad libitum feeding and lack of exercise. The beneficial effects of some drugs in rodent models, the authors propose, could be due (at least in part) to their ability to reverse the artificial conditions that the animals are maintained under, and the appli... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3327281 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:45:57 +0100 3327281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2695617&cid=t_122351_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F08%2F13%2Fanimal_testing_a_view_from_the_labs.php Why do we test drugs on animals, anyway? This question showed up in the comments section from a lay reader. It's definitely a fair thing to ask, and you'd expect that we in the business would have a good answer. So here it is: because for all we know about biochemistry, about physiology and about biology in general, living systems are still far too complex for us to model. We're more ignorant than we seem to be. The only way we can find out what will happen if we give a new compound to a living creature is to give it to some of them and watch carefully. That sounds primitive, and I suppose it is. We don't do it in a primitive manner, though. We watch with all the tools of our trade - remote-control physiological radio transmitters, motion-sensing software hooked up to video cameras, sensi... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2695617 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:24:53 +0100 2695617 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2688904&cid=t_122351_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F08%2F11%2Fanimal_rights_you_say.php Novartis has had trouble for years with animal rights activists, and now things are getting nastier than ever: Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella says the people who burned down his holiday home and defiled his family's graves are not criminals but "terrorists" beyond dialogue. In an interview with the SonntagsBlick newspaper, the 55-year-old chief executive said the attacks have changed his life and that more needs to be done to rein in the animal-rights extremists believed responsible for the "wicked" acts. Last week Vasella's home in Austria was set on fire. In July his mother's urn was stolen and his dead 19-year-old sister's grave was desecrated. Crosses bearing his name and that of his wife were placed in a Chur cemetery. Workers' cars have been torched and angry graffiti sprayed on wall... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2688904 Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:51:41 +0100 2688904 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2194956&cid=t_122351_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E5%2F542011276%2Fvan%2520IJzendoorn%2520Bard%2520Bakermans-Kranenburg%2520Ivan%25202008%2520Dev%2520Psychobio%2520chimps_tcm17-79176.pdf A quick and driveby post as a follow-up to some of our previous posts about our interconnectedness and as the Sioux proverb goes, "With all beings and all things we shall be as relatives", this headline from the Discover magazine blogs caught my attention:All It Takes Is Love: Baby Chimps Given Extra TLC Score Higher Than Human Infants on IQ TestsWe kid you not: Orphaned baby chimpanzees cared for by humans in a loving, attentive manner have been found to be more cognitively advanced than some human infants. Authors of a new study in Developmental Psychobiology compared nine-month-old human babies to nine-month-old chimps who had received daily “mom sessions.” For 20 hours a week, humans would play with 17 of the orphaned infant chimps, helping them to develop motor skills and to “me... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2194956 Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:10:04 +0100 2194956 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2113356&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2009%2F01%2F19%2Fscientists-speak-about-cosmetic-animal-testing%2F A couple weeks ago, we were contacted by a student who was working on a science project about cosmetic animal testing.  She gave us a few interesting questions which we thought we would pass along here. Seeking Student Says…Could you answer the following questions about animal testing for my school science project? Left Brain Responds: Animal testing ban? 1. Do you think that animal testing for cosmetics should be banned? Explain. While I don’t like animal testing, there are currently no suitable alternatives for some types of tests. I don’t think animal testing should be banned until there are alternative tests that help prove products are safe. Medicine versus Cosmetics 2. Should animal testing be banned for cosmetics, but still be allowed for medicine? Animal testing... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2113356 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:44:37 +0100 2113356 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2039819&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2008%2F12%2F16%2Fartificial-skin-may-reduce-need-for-animal-testing%2F Mid Brain reports… Next year, the EU has scheduled a ban on all animal testing for cosmetics. Industry experts are skeptical it will actually be implemented. As the Beauty Brains have previously reported, there are not suitable alternatives to replace all animal testing yet. Artificial Skin Alternative But they may be changing.  Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart are working on an automated system for creating artificial skin. They envision it to be used for skin grafts and transplants.  However, it might first be adapted to cosmetic testing as a replacement for animal testing. I am happy to see that scientists are making progress to replace animal testing of cosmetics.  No one likes to see animals still being us... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2039819 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:04:29 +0100 2039819 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1880152&cid=t_122351_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2008%2F10%2F16%2Fanimal_models_how_high_to_set_the_bar.php A key step in all drug discovery programs are the cellular and animal models. The cells are the first time that the compounds are exposed to a living system (with cellular membranes that keep things out). The animals, of course, are a very stringent test indeed, with the full inventory of absorption, metabolism, and excretion machinery, along with the possibility of side effects in systems that you might not have even considered. So it’s a tricky business to make sure that these tests are being done in the most meaningful way possible. You can knock your project out of promising areas for development if your model systems are too tough – and it’s even easier to water them down in the interest of getting numbers that make everyone feel better. “As stringent as they need to be” is... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1880152 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:10:58 +0100 1880152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1646374&cid=t_122351_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F342636699%2F The FDA commish is being berated this week in full-page ads in The Washington Post by animal activists, who are frustrated and impatient that the agency has failed to respond to their entreaties to eliminate animal testing used to determine toxicity in drugs. And so PETA, the People for the Ethical Treament of Animals, have placed a cute little beagle alongside von Eschenbach’s hound dog mug in hopes of stirring widespread passion among the public. The ad reads: “Because the FDA guidelines are antiquated, dogs are still forced to ingest, inhale, or be injected with drugs. Those who don’t die outright can suffer for months or even years while their organs fail and they become riddled with cancer and other diseases. Thanks to the FDA, dogs are also purposely infected with disea... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1646374 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:21:02 +0100 1646374 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1596267&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2008%2F07%2F09%2Fanti-animal-testing-group-agrees-with-the-beauty-brains%2F The Beauty Brains have discussed animal testing and cosmetics on a few occasions. Here they explained how all ingredients on cosmetics were at one time animal tested and how companies can claim not to test on animals when they indirectly do. A number of people have expressed skepticism about those claims. Well, according to this story, here is an anti-animal testing group from the UK that gets it right. Director Dr. Dan Lyons from the group, Uncaged, correctly points out that Consumers are being misled by the beauty companies, who claim they don’t test their products - but they still test the ingredients, or use a third party to do the testing for them Why some companies think it is ok to mislead people and claim they are better than other companies because they “don’t test o... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1596267 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:02:16 +0100 1596267 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1552934&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2008%2F06%2F28%2Ffirst-cosmetic-animal-testing-alternatives-approved%2F If you believed everything you heard from animal rights activist groups, you might think that the cosmetic industry could easily stop testing on animals. They have suggested that there are dozens of alternatives to animal testing. Well, the scientists in the cosmetic industry and readers of the Beauty Brains know that this hasn’t been true. The issue of animal testing of cosmetics is not so simple. In fact, until just recently there were no approved alternatives to animal testing. Instead, companies that wanted to claim “cruelty free” have relied on using formulas that are composed of compounds that had previously been tested on animals or farming the dirty work out to their raw material suppliers. Animal Testing Alternative? But there’s some good news on this fron... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1552934 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:35:00 +0100 1552934 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1475419&cid=t_122351_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F299952005%2F The world-famous primate expert and other scientists appealed to European Union officials today to end the testing of animals for science and medical research. “We need to recognize at the outset that what we do to animals from their perspective certainly, and probably from ours, is morally wrong and unacceptable,” Goodall says, according to the Associated Press. She presented a petition with 150,000 names to lawmakers at the European Parliament that calls on lawmakers and the EU’s executive office to find testing methods that do not involve animals. Goodall and animal rights groups want EU governments to revise 1986 rules by expanding expand a ban on the use of animals in testing and promote alternative technologies for medical research. “Where is the big encourage... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1475419 Wed, 28 May 2008 16:37:22 +0100 1475419 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1370873&cid=t_122351_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F269937024%2F Blame it on the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods, or ICCVAM, which reps 15 federal agencies that comprise the committee. A decade after Congress created the panel to spur the development of non-animal tests, only four such tests have been approved out of 185 reviews, according to records cited by The Washington Post. Critics say the slow pace of government efforts to replace or reduce the large numbers of animals used by pharmaceutical companies, chemical manufacturers and consumer firms has caused hundreds of thousands of mice, rabbits, hamsters and dogs continue to suffer and die unnecessarily in tests for pesticides, household cleaners, sunscreens and other products, the Post writes. Several of the panel’s original backers now consider t... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1370873 Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:00:26 +0100 1370873 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1347608&cid=t_122351_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2008%2F04%2F03%2Fwhose_guess_is_better.php I was having a discussion the other day about which therapeutic areas have the best predictive assays. That is, what diseases can you be reasonably sure of treating before your drug candidate gets into (costly) human trials? As we went on, things settled out roughly like this: Cardiovascular (circulatory): not so bad. We’ve got a reasonably good handle on the mechanisms of high blood pressure, and the assays for it are pretty predictive, compared to a lot of other fields. (Of course, that’s also now one of the most well-served therapeutic areas in all of medicine). There are some harder problems, like primary pulmonary hypertension, but you could still go into humans with a bit more confidence than usual if you had something that looked good in animals. Cardiovascular (lipids): decep... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1347608 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:19:01 +0100 1347608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1252399&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2008%2F02%2F24%2Fanimal-testing-in-the-future-robots-not-rabbits%2F Here’s a topic that’s near and dear to the hearts of many of our Beauty Brainiacs: Animal testing! According to Engadget, the National Institute of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency are joining forces in a 5 year research program to replace the live animals that are used in cosmetic testing with “high-speed automated screening robots.” There are three very cool things about this story. First, fewer animal tests will be needed in the future. Second, there will be more high speed robots in the future. (Yay robots!) The third, and by far the cutest part of this story, is the picture that accompanies it. It’s a Flikr image of the most adorable rabbit in the universe. Come on, have you EVER seen a rabbit cuter than this one??? (No, Sarah Bellum, we&#82... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1252399 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 05:04:32 +0100 1252399 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1207196&cid=t_122351_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F02%2Ffrench-scientists-develop-skin-lines.html This is very good: French scientists have used leftover human skin from cosmetic surgery to develop a product for testing cosmetics that is better than using animals. From the story:Cosmetics giant L'Oreal showed Sky News their new product called Episkin in an exclusive visit to their laboratory in Lyon, France. The skin is grown from cells removed from donor skin left over after cosmetic surgery. Tests have shown it gives more accurate results than animal skin. The new skin has been cleared for use and will now be available to use in the cosmetic industry.There is a theory in animal welfare advocacy called "The Three Rs"--replacement, reduction, refinement--to reduce the use of animals in various areas of research. This is a proper and lauditory goal. But note: It ain't animal rights beca... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1207196 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:43:00 +0100 1207196 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1204689&cid=t_122351_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F224914341%2Freducing-use-of-animals-in-research.html It's cool when science turns its methods back on itself to improve its own methods. In some ways you could argue that this is what science is about, anyway; but sometimes, there's a more obvious... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1204689 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:16:10 +0100 1204689 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1186082&cid=t_122351_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2008%2F01%2F29%2Fthe_animal_testing_heirarchy.php I've had some questions about animal models and testing, so I thought I'd go over the general picture. As far as I can tell, my experience has been pretty representative. There are plenty of animal models used in my line of work, but some of them you see more than others. Mice and rats are, of course, the front line. I’ve always been glad to have a reliable mouse model, personally, because that means the smallest amount of compound is used to get an in vivo readout. Rats burn up more hard-won material. That's not just because they're uglier, since we don’t dose based on per cent ugly, but rather because they're much larger and heavier. The worst were some elderly rodents I came across years ago that were being groomed for a possible Alzheimer’s assay – you don’t see many old rat... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1186082 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:30:06 +0100 1186082 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1147235&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2008%2F01%2F13%2Fgetting-rid-cosmetic-animal-testing-is-harder-than-some-have-suggested%2F There are sites all over the internet suggesting that animal testing is an abomination and should be halted immediately. They make all sorts of claims that implying that science is a lot further along than it really is. For example, this site called “Cosmetic Testing Facts” says… “…the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require animal testing for cosmetics, and alternative testing methods are widely available and lead to more reliable results.” Are alternatives really better? But according to the scientists who are actually working on the problem, finding alternatives for animal testing is proving difficult. We’ve previously written about 5 new methods for reducing animal testing, but these tests just can’t completely replace animal ... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147235 Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:40:38 +0100 1147235 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1146135&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2008%2F01%2F13%2Fgetting-rid-cosmetic-animal-testing-is-harder-than-some-have-suggested%2F There are sites all over the internet suggesting that animal testing is an abomination and should be halted immediately. They make all sorts of claims that implying that science is a lot further along than it really is. For example, this site called “Cosmetic Testing Facts” says… “…the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require animal testing for cosmetics, and alternative testing methods are widely available and lead to more reliable results.” Are alternatives really better? But according to the scientists who are actually working on the problem, finding alternatives for animal testing is proving difficult. We’ve previously written about 5 new methods for reducing animal testing, but these tests just can’t completely replace animal ... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1146135 Sun, 13 Jan 2008 06:12:07 +0100 1146135 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1140031&cid=t_122351_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F213862998%2F Revamping drug development may not only save money, but lives. Lives of rats and mice, that is. That’s the finding of an extensive review of research practices, which found that eliminating acute toxicity tests can be redundant, Reuters reports. These are designed to measure lethal doses in animals. This is a big deal, because animal tests are an especially contentious issue. Animal-rights activists have long staged protests - some violent - against the use of various creatures in pharmaceutical testing. And recently, a coalition of groups petitioned the FDA to end such tests. In Europe alone, just under half a million rats and mice are used each year to test the toxicity of new meds, accounting for 4 percent of overall animal use. Dropping the acute toxicity test would save around 1... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1140031 Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:06:26 +0100 1140031 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1071122&cid=t_122351_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2007%2F12%2F05%2Funacceptable.php I’ve had reports that some of the animal rights activists are getting loud and lively down in Connecticut, to the point of harassing employees of some of the drug companies there. I remember some of this going on in the early 1990s in New Jersey, but this is the first big outbreak of this stuff I can remember since then. This latest outbreak seems to be part of their long-running (and to my mind misguided) campaign against Huntingtdon Life Sciences. I won’t go into the specifics of what I’ve been hearing, because I don’t want to encourage the people who do it. What I’ll say is that all this shouting-on-the-street and ominous-flyers-under-the-windshield-wiper stuff doesn’t do the animal folks any credit, not that they care. A rational debate on the issues involved would be just... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1071122 Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:22:45 +0100 1071122 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1031217&cid=t_122351_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F185779141%2F A coalition submitted a petition this week to the agency that seeks an end to animal testing. And the groups are threatening legal action if the FDA doesn’t respond within six months. Their rationale - a series of recent “tragedies” in which drugs “that seemed safe in animal tests injured or killed consumers or participants in clinical trials.” In their Mandatory Alternatives Petition, they cite as examples “hormone replacement therapy for women, development of HIV protease inhibitors, Vioxx and other COX-2 inhibitors, teratology studies, harmful effects of smoking, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, antivirals, antidepressants, and cardiovascular medications, among others.” They also point to Merck’s failed HIV vaccine, which ap... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1031217 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:50:41 +0100 1031217 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1010332&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2007%2F11%2F07%2Fnot-everyone-is-against-animal-testing%2F Is he bold or is he crazy? Here’s an Oxford-based neurosurgeon who is publicly calling for more animal testing. He’s even advocating the use of animal testing for cosmetics! This happened during a speech in front of a rally organized by Pro-Test, a group that supports animal testing for research. I wonder how this story would’ve played out if it happened in the United States. Does animal testing upset YOU? Or do you think the testing prevents human suffering? Leave a comment and let the rest of the Beauty Brains community know what you think. (Source: thebeautybrains.com) thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1010332 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:35:34 +0100 1010332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=650516&cid=t_122351_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2007%2F06%2F01%2Fhow-science-can-save-cute-animals-from-corporate-killers%2F Animal testing of cosmetics is a controversial topic and frequent source of questions for the Beauty Brains. We were thrilled to report recently on five newly developed test methods that will reduce the amount of animal testing done by the beauty industry. We applaud the industry for taking steps in the right direction! But while animal testing in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals gets a lot of attention, similar testing done by the beverage industry has gone without much notice. Until now. The New York Times just announced that Coke and Pepsi have agreed to curb their animal testing after pressure from PETA. I didn’t realize the extent of soft drink testing on animals until I read the Times account. They gave two examples that seemed particularly ourtrageous: A Coca-Cola scientist worke... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=650516 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:13:35 +0100 650516