Monkey Drug Trials Experiment

As of 2015, 200 to 225 million animals are said to used in laboratory research for the biomedical industry annually worldwide. Typically defended by arguments of reliability and human health benefits, recently the question of ethics and values placed on animal testing have caused it to become a relevant and pressing topic that has been more widely discussed and debated. First off, the laboratory conditions that are instigated upon millions of animal models for the sake of medical research has been said to be unethical and cruel. Additionally, it has been debated that the results of animal experimentation are unreliable across a wide range of areas. Lastly, animal testing not only leads away from the direction of resources from more effective testing methods but also prolongs the duration of time humans may need to wait for an effective cure. Therefore, the potential benefits of animal experimentation are greatly outweighed by the risks and collective harm of humans and animals which is why resources should be directed towards more human-based testing procedures.

The monkey drug trials 1969 was where a big group of monkeys and rats were trained to inject themselves with drugs like alcohol, morphine, cocaine, and amphetamines. The reason they did this study was so they could prove that drugs are addictive and that they have harmful side effects. The type of research they used to conduct this study was the case study method. At first the researchers administered the drugs themselves, but later on, they just left the drugs there and the test subjects injected themselves with the drugs voluntarily. Some of the subjects even started doing the different drugs at the same time. The outcome of this was the test subjects became violent ripping off their own limbs, experience

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” (Mahatma Gandhi). Scientists have been using animals for biomedical research for centuries. They provide a source to get information scientists can not get without harming humans. A lot of debate is spread about whether it is good or bad. Animal experimentation is a controversial topic because it is helpful to humans, but it is also cruel and inhumane.

Many experiments done in today’s society are questionable according to the standards set today by ourselves, and others. A large example, without a doubt, is the experimentation of chemicals and other drugs on animals.

The experiment performed by Harry Harlow involves the ethics of experimenting on animals, more specifically monkeys. What he did to the monkeys could be called worse than giving them certain drugs or exposing them to certain chemicals. He took the baby rhesus monkeys away from their maternal parents only a few hours after birth and raised them using a fake, “substitute” mother. He wanted to see if the monkeys were more attracted to a mother who would provide them with food and nourishment, or one that would give them love and affection.

It was a single blinded experiment. The researchers influenced the experiment with the rules they created for the prisoners and guards to follow. They created rules such as prisoners are required to eat their entire meal three times a day, prisoners are assigned a number to be referred to as instead of their actual name, and no prisoners are allowed to touch guards in any circumstance. These rules internalised the roles of prisoner and guard in the participants. The researchers also influenced the experiment by leaving alcohol in the guards room. Alcohol can turn people violent which was shown in the scene mentioned earlier of the guard urinating on the prisoner. The guard was holding a bottle of liquor, and more than half was empty while shaving the prisoner's hair and urinating on him. Since one of the rules was no outside items are allowed in the facility during the course of the experiment, the alcohol was obviously left there intentionally by the researchers. The participants were aware of the experiment they were being observed for, but they did not realise the rules were put in place to cause the participants to unconsciously develop their belief of their assigned character. The researchers even had a camera in the tank the guards used for solitary confinement. They knew there was a huge chance of the guards putting a prisoner in the tank so they had a night vision camera placed inside as well. The camera allowed the researchers to see how the participant would react being locked in a tank with hardly any space and no light. The events and violent acts that took place were expected and influenced by the researchers, while the participants were not aware of their

The Silver Spring monkey experiments were ethically justified. To support this claim, I would like us to relate the death of an animal and that of a human being. It would be prudent even to kill two animals in research rather than to let a whole generation be affected with a disease. For instance, by keeping the animals in the lab with open wounds is a way of scientifically executing the research and by bandaging the wounds, they would go against the intention of the research. I tend to believe that the Silver Spring monkey experiment was ethical and justifiable.

Balster, R.L. (1991). Drug abuse potential evaluation in animals. British Journal Of Addiction, 86 (12)1549-1558

This is a sensitive issue area in regards to research. There are many types of research that just are not feasible to do with human subjects; therefore the justification for non-human animals come into the experiment. Even though there are many benefits to using animals, many animal rights groups maintain strong opposition to using animals for research. This is why the APA has developed the Committee on Animal Research and Ethics (CARE). It is the responsibility of CARE to audit that all ethics regarding animal usage is followed (“Committee on animal,” 2014). Due to the sensitivity of testing on animals the APA has developed very strict standards regarding usage of animals as subjects. They range from justification, housing of said animal, acquisition, and procedures. These requirements outline absolute necessity in order to reduce the unnecessary usage of animals in testing.

Imagine being poked and prodded with a needle, all to test for a new drug against

Animal experimentation has been used for centuries for biomedical research. One of the earliest examples is Greek physicians such as Aristotle and Galen who conducted tests on animals to get a better understanding of humans and make advances in the field of science. This method of experimenting on animals is out of date in today’s advanced technological society. This discussion of using animal for experimentation has dominated societal conversations for many years now due to many reasons. This includes the fact that there are alternatives, it proves ineffective, and it violates federal law.

This is about using non- human animals for research, or experiments. Every year millions upon millions of animals, dogs, cats, rats, mice, and monkeys are used for research. Most people think this is barbaric. During this testing these poor animals are made to inject substances, that are poisonous, and most of the time after these test, they still don't know if these drugs are safe for humans.

Animal Experimentation for scientific research is a contentious issues and the subject of much debate. On one hand it is considered morally wrong to use animal solely for human benefit. On the other hand, removing animals, completely from the lab would impede any understanding of health, disease and consequently affect the development of new and vital treatments. Two essential questions needed to be asked is does it work and is it ethical?

For the experiment we observed a total of 8 trials. Each trial consisted of two rats. The rats were 25-day-old Long-Evans hooded rats. Each rat was randomly assigned to one of two drug groups. The groups were either administered 1.0 mg/kg of Naloxone or an injection of saline. Among the 8 trials, 4 of the trials the rats were given Saline, and among the other 4 trials the rats were given Naloxone

Scientist wanted to understand the dangers of drugs and the addiction that comes with them. In 1969, a group of scientist named Deneau, Yanagita and Seevers began the Monkey Drug Trials in an unknown location. Since you couldn’t experiment with humans they choose monkeys and rats. The groups of animals were taught how to inject themselves with drugs. They had an unlimited supply of drugs such as morphine, alcohol, cocaine, crystal meth, and amphetamines. At times they would combine the drugs like cocaine and morphine.