NIH to Investigate OSU's Spinal Injury Techniques Course

[Max]

NIH to Investigate OSU's Inhumane Spinal Injury Techniques Course; PCRM Petition Spurs NIH Review into Possible Animal Welfare Violations in 'Cruelty 101' Class

WASHINGTON -- February 8 -- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has notified the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) that it will investigate charges by PCRM that Ohio State University has violated federal animal welfare regulations as part of its controversial Spinal Cord Injury Techniques Training Course.

The investigation comes in response to PCRM's complaints that OSU ignored federal regulations requiring government-funded research institutions using animals to "minimize pain and distress" "minimize the number of animals used," and to "consider non-animal alternatives."

Nicknamed "Cruelty 101," the OSU spinal injury techniques course requires students to surgically expose the spinal cords of mice and rats-a technique known as laminectomy-and drop weights on them to simulate human spinal cord injuries. Over the course of the three-week class, the 269 injured mice and rats are subjected to additional surgeries, invasive laboratory procedures, and physically demanding behavioral exercises before they are killed. The course is funded in part by NIH.

The university states that the class teaches a 'standardized' methodology for inflicting spinal cord damage.

"These procedures are as unnecessary as they are cruel," says Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "Current spinal injury research using human neural cell lines, impact studies on human cadavers, and clinical trials, make the OSU course not only pointless, but redundant

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0208-07.htm



http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

[This message was edited by Max on 02-10-05 at 09:59 PM.]

[Max]

Oh Boy!

We definately don't need these kind of scandals & publicity in spinal research[img]/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif[/img]



http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

[Wise Young]

This is a ridiculous article. Just the fact that it labels the course cruelty 101 tells you that this is a terrible article. There is no evidence that OSU ignored federal regulations. The course was carried out in accordance to all federal guidelines. I know the scientists at OSU personally and believe that they are very good with animals. The animals are anesthetized at the time of injury. Neal Barnard does not know what he is talking about when he says that these procedures are unnecessary and cruel. It is a course to teach researchers how to do spinal cord injury of rats. Almost every therapy that we know that is being taken to clinical trial was first discovered and developed in rat spinal cord injury models. This is essential for finding the cure for spinal cord injury. This is a time when the spinal cord injury community should be rallying behind the researchers. Without laboratories carrying out these studies, we would not have any clinical trials. We would not know that the spinal cord can regenerate. We would not know about stem cell transplants, olfactory ensheathing glial transplants, chondroitinase effects of regeneration, rolipram and dibutyryl cAMP stimulating regeneration, and on and on and on. OSU is doing a service for the spinal cord injury community by taking time out to teach others what they know about animal spinal cord injury models. Please, I wish that people like Neal Barnard would choose something better to do.

Wise.

[Max]

NIH to probe Ohio State U. medical course / This one was spread by UPI

NIH to probe Ohio State U. medical course
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Big News Network.com Friday 11th February, 2005 (UPI)

The National Institutes of Health is probing Ohio State University's Spinal Cord Injury Techniques Training Course for possible animal welfare violations.

The NIH investigation follows accusations by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine that the course has ignored federal regulations requiring government-funded research institutions using animals to minimize pain and distress ... minimize the number of animals used and to consider non-animal alternatives.

The three-week OSU spinal injury techniques course, funded in part by the NIH, requires students to surgically expose the spinal cords of mice and rats -- a technique known as laminectomy -- and drop weights on them to simulate human spinal cord injuries.

The 269 injured mice and rats are subjected to additional surgeries, invasive laboratory procedures, and physically demanding behavioral exercises before they are killed.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=e22cdf3e49b325a7



http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

[Max]

OSU denies animal cruelty complaints

OSU denies animal cruelty complaints
By Susan Kehoe
Published: Monday, February 28, 2005
Article Tools: Page 1 of 3

Ohio State said its course on spinal cord injuries does not demonstrate cruelty to animals, as alleged by an animal rights advocacy group earlier this year.

The university responded to a request Feb. 17 from the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, an arm of the National Institutes of Health. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an animal rights advocacy group, initially contacted the office in January, after a Columbus animal rights group, Protect Our Earth's Treasures, expressed concerns about the OSU course that uses mice and rats.

The letter said the course was not in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act or Public Health Services and listed other complaints about the course.

This was "drastically inaccurate," said Earle Holland, spokesman for OSU. OSU is required by law to follow the regulations of the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, he said.

The course "Spinal Cord Injury Techniques" teaches researchers what has evolved in the animal model for studying spinal cord injuries by using mice and rats.

Students in the course perform multiple major surgeries that result in a crushed or severed spinal cord, and then lead the animals through a session of forced tasks to evaluate neurobehavior, according to a letter dated Jan. 3 and wrote by Kristie Stoick, research analyst for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

"The animals are surely in a large amount of post-operative pain in addition to the complications they might experience as a result of their injury," Stoick wrote. "This OSU course violates efforts designed to avoid or minimize such pain and distress to the animals."

http://www.thelantern.com/news/2005/...s-879742.shtml



http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

[Max]

PCRM Group Files Suit in Ohio Supreme Court Over OSU's "Cruelty 101" Course

PCRM Group Files Suit in Ohio Supreme Court Over OSU's "Cruelty 101" Course

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed suit today in Ohio Supreme Court seeking to force Ohio State University to release photographs and video- and audiotape footage of its controversial Spinal Cord Injury Techniques Training Course. PCRM has sued for release of the materials under the Ohio Public Records Act.
Sometimes called "Cruelty 101," the OSU course requires students to surgically expose the spinal cords of mice and rats and drop heavy weights on them in a vain attempt to imitate human spinal cord injuries and paralyses.

Over the three-week course, more than 260 mice and rats are injured then put through additional painful surgeries and a host of invasive laboratory procedures and behavioral exercises before they are finally killed.

"This class is a pointless exercise in animal cruelty," said PCRM president Neal Barnard, M.D. "It does nothing to advance human spinal cord research or find cures for paralysis. Other techniques such as human neural cell lines, impact studies on cadavers, advanced imaging and electrophysiological techniques, and a host of clinical trials, make the OSU course as unnecessary as it is irrelevant."

The lawsuit comes on the heels of an announcement in February by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that it would investigate complaints by PCRM that the OSU course violates federal animal welfare regulations. NIH is a major funder of the spinal cord injury course under a five-year grant.

The OSU course is scheduled for July 15-20. This will be the third year Ohio State has held the class.

Beginning in June 2004, PCRM made multiple requests for documents, photographs, and video- and audiotapes of the class and procedures, but the university has refused to comply fully, claiming photographs and videotapes of the procedures are protected under the intellectual property exception to the Ohio Public Records Act.

http://www.newstarget.com/006649.html



http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

[Max]

Physicians Group, Disabled Activist Call on Ohio State University to Cancel Spinal Cord Injury Techniques Training Course

Physicians Group, Disabled Activist Call on Ohio State University to Cancel Spinal Cord Injury Techniques Training Course

5/20/2005 7:30:00 AM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor

Contact: Howard White of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 202-686-2210, ext. 339; 202-256-8979 (cell) or hwhite@pcrm.org; Web: http://www.pcrm.org

News Advisory:

-- Media Briefing Monday, May 23, 10 a.m. -- Physicians Group and Disabled Activist Call On Ohio State University to Cancel Spinal Cord Injury Techniques Training Course

-- "Cruelty 101" Course Scheduled for July 10-30

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) will join with two prominent physicians, and a wheelchair-bound Ohio man to call on Ohio State University to cancel its controversial Spinal Cord Injury Techniques Course. Sometimes called "Cruelty 101," the course requires students to expose the spinal columns of mice and rats and drop heavy weights on them in a futile attempt to imitate human spinal cord injuries and paralyses. Over the three-week course (July 10-30), 270 mice and rats will be injured and put through other painful surgeries and invasive procedures before being killed. PCRM filed suit in April in the Ohio Supreme Court seeking to force OSU to produce videotapes and other documents relating to the course and initiated an investigation by the National Institutes of Health into possible animal welfare violations by the university.

WHO: Carrie Walters, M.D., is a nationally recognized neurosurgeon specializing in acute head injury and spinal cord care. She practices in Phoenix, Arizona.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=47703



http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

[Leo]

What a load, looks like a witch hunt.

Anyone want to draft template letter to Mr. White?

Or hows Mr. White your group is full of BS, spend a few hours reading at CareCure and get reminded what SCI is all about.

"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given you."
Gandolf the Gray

[antiquity]

I don't get the impression that Neal Barnard is suggesting that rats should not be used in SCI research, only that their pain and suffering should be minimized.

[Christopher Paddon]

Why is it a "futile attempt to imitate human spinal cord injuries and paralyses."?

Have they got any alternative suggestions as to how cures can be tested without using humans?

What happens if rats infest your house? Do these people object to their painful death by cyanide poisoning?

[Jeanie De Marco]

Originally posted by seneca:

I don't get the impression that Neal Barnard is suggesting that rats should not be used in SCI research, only that their pain and suffering should be minimized.

Seneca, his last point explains that he is suggesting that...
"Current spinal injury research using human neural cell lines, impact studies on human cadavers, and clinical trials, make the OSU course not only pointless, but redundant"

Where oh where has my pixie gone now?????

[Wise Young]

The Physicians Committe for Responsible Medicine has sued Ohio State University, wasting much time and money, and hurting spinal cord injury research.

I don't find Neal Barnard or any of his irresponsible cohorts supporting human embryonic stem cell research, even though this would reduce animal research. They are like the anti-stem cell groups, emphasizing only negative and doing nothing to help others. It is beyond my ken why these well-funded groups make it their priority to attack scientists doing cure research.

I am not sure that PCRM cares about animals and why they are doing this. Do they sue manufacturers of rat and mouse traps and poisons, that kill so many more animals than researchers ever do? Do they attack PETA who was just found to have paid millions of their donors' contributions paying for the killing of tens of thousands of dogs in shelters? Do they picket McDonalds who has been responsible for the deaths of millions of cows (they have sold billions of burgers)?

It is not true that Neal Barnard is just suggesting more humane treatment of animals. He believes that rats should not be used for SCI research. He and his group believes that all animal research should be abolished. If he believed that pain and suffering of animals should be minimized, I would gladly work with him. It is the other way around. I can assure you from first-hand knowledge that the OSU group are very strong advocates of humane treatment of rats. It is so bizarre that PCRM is attacking OSU for their spinal cord injury course. They have picked the wrong group to attack.

In my opinion, PCRM is not doing this for animals. They are doing this against people with spinal cord injury. People who give money to these people should understand that they are not helping animals, just hurting people.

Wise.

[This message was edited by Wise Young on 05-22-05 at 02:39 PM.]

[Christopher Paddon]

This is NOT what we want

[Max]

Paralyzed Woman Urges OSU to Cancel Spinal Cord Injury Course; Lederer Writes Letter to OSU President in May 22 Columbus Dispatch

Paralyzed Woman Urges OSU to Cancel Spinal Cord Injury Course; Lederer Writes Letter to OSU President in May 22 Columbus Dispatch

5/20/2005 5:47:00 PM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: State Desk

Contact: Howard White of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 202-686-2210 ext. 339, 202-256-8979 (cell), hwhite@pcrm.org

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Mary Ann Lederer, an Ohio woman paralyzed from the waist down after being shot during a break-in attempt at her home in 1976, is urging Ohio State University to cancel its controversial Spinal Cord Injury Techniques Course in an open-letter advertisement in this Sunday's (May 22) edition of the Columbus Dispatch.

The OSU course, scheduled for July 10-30, requires students to systematically injure the spinal cords of 269 mice and rats by dropping heavy weights on their exposed spines, and then put the injured animals through a series of painful exercises over days and weeks before they are finally killed.

In the quarter-page ad sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), Lederer writes that she has been waiting nearly 30 years for a cure. But she feels if funds continue to be channeled into animal research instead of human clinical research, long-promised and long-awaited breakthroughs for her and for hundreds of thousands of other victims of severe spinal cord injury "may never happen."

She also opposes the course because it demonstrates nothing new in the field of spinal cord trauma, it inflicts suffering and death on hundreds of animals, and because the coursework has little value because of the biological and physiological differences between humans and rats and mice.

She urges OSU President Karen Holbrook and other administrators to meet with neurologists from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to discuss ways of teaching students to use non-animal research methods.

"I want a cure," writes Lederer. "But I know that wasteful and cruel animal experiments are not the answer."

Editor's Note: A downloadable copy of Ms. Lederer's open letter to Ohio State University is available at http://www.pcrm.org/osu.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=47765



http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

[Max]

OSU, activist group await court decision
By Katherine Dodson
Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Article Tools: Page 1 of 2

The debate over whether Ohio State should provide an activist group with photographs and videotapes of animal research might soon be decided.

OSU and an activist group - The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine - are currently waiting on a preliminary decision by the Ohio Supreme Court that will determine whether OSU should provide the group with photographs and videotapes of animal research performed in a spinal cord injury research techniques training program at OSU.

The Washington D.C. based activist group - whose goal is to promote "ethical and effective medical research" - filed the suit April 7 against OSU's Board of Trustees.

According to the suit, the documents were requested by the group to prove whether the animals are being treated in a "cruel or inhumane manner."

"As far as we can tell, there's no real purpose for (the research) and we consider this cruel and unnecessary," said Howard White, spokesman for PCRM.

PCRM held a press conference Monday to discuss its claims of animal cruelty.

The research program is sponsored by the National Institute of Health and trains scientists how to conduct and evaluate spinal cord trauma, said Tom Rosol, senior associate vice president for research at OSU. Rosol, who oversees all research on campus, said the techniques taught during the course were approved by the university.

Instructors teach researchers selected from around the world how to cause spinal cord injuries on rats and mice during the training program, said Earle Holland, spokesman for the program.

Link Here

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

[This message was edited by mk99 on 05-25-05 at 04:16 PM.]