Medical Experiment on Animals Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Medical Experiment on Animals - Term Paper Example the past, animal testing was justified due to lack of technology and absence of proficiency in medicine, as fewer alternatives were present to heal the patients (Anderegg et al, 1). Supporters of animal testing have been using the argument that experimentation on animals have led to remarkable advancements like kidney transplants, mental illness, ulcer and asthma drugs, bypass operations, polio vaccines etc. Even the effects of penicillin were first observed on mice in 1940. Following these tests, the drug was then used on soldiers in 1941. Similarly, blood transfusion was conducted on dogs in 1914. Since then this technique has been used for human beings and has helped save the lives of many (RDS, 3). In spite of what the supporters of animal testing say, it has been testified by numerous medical historians that key medical discoveries were rather made by observing patients and human autopsy, as opposed to animal testing. There have been several cases where testing on animals has led to results which ended up misleading the scientists rather than provide evidence. In 1963, it was concluded that smoking and lung cancer in humans was strongly correlated. This conclusion was a result of retrospective studies and research. However when tested on animals, the experiments failed to produce the desired results. Since the human and animal anatomy had vast difference, researchers ignored the human data which they obtained from patients. As a result, health warnings weren’t issued and this resulted in thousands of deaths by lung cancer (Anderegg et al, 2). Similarly the use of animal models misled researchers, when the polio virus was being studied. As a result of experimenting on monkeys, researchers concluded that the polio virus was transmitted through the respiratory system. Consequently misdirected preventive measures were taken and the development of the polio vaccine was delayed. It was later found out that in human, the polio virus is transmitted by the