BMJ  2004;328:1017-1018 (24 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7446.1017-c

Letter

Missing evidence that animal research benefits humans

Moratorium is unjustified

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Pound et al take an extremely narrow approach to the question: "Where is the evidence that animal research benefits humans?" and they misinterpret their own data.¹ Their opening statement, that clinicians and the public often consider it axiomatic that animal research has contributed to the treatment of human disease, yet little evidence is available to support this view, is seriously misleading. There is a huge amount of evidence for the value of animal research.

The authors identified 277 reviews of animal experiments but described just six systematic reviews, conducted to discover whether animal research had informed particular clinical studies. Far from providing evidence that animal research doesn't work, five reviews showed that full analysis of the animal results predicted the ineffectiveness of the treatment being tested. But the clinical work was started before proper assessment of the animal studies.

It is imperative that animal research is properly evaluated . . . [Full text of this article]

Medical Research Council, London W1B 1AL Carolan.Davidge@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk

Medical Research Council, London W1B 1AL Carolan.Davidge@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk

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