Examples of animal testing that harmed humans

[Catherine]

Humans have used animal testing of many products, especially medications. Once we have tested something on animals we move ahead confidently, assuming the product is safe for humans. In far too many cases the opposite is true. Drugs that showed no negative effects in animals, proved to have serious effects on humans.
Some medications proved to be lethal to a large number of people. These drugs end up being pulled off the market after enough negative effects are noticed

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsan...ms-humans/

Who can forget one of the most famous drug disasters, Thalidomide. It was actually tested on animals, even pregnant animals.

https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/studies-tha...-1962-2008


The use of animal testing sets us up for these situations. We rely on  animal testing when it is clear that it doesn't work. It gives us a false sense of safety. We set up the animal testing that inherently cruel to animals. This sets us up for drug disasters where many humans are harmed before a drug is recalled.
If what we are doing is basically cruelty to animals, it is not surprising that the results are harmful to us. Good results are unlikely to come from a bad action.

We need to rethink how we do things.

[LPC]

Spot on, Catherine! Animal physiology is not identical to that of humans, and indeed the physiology of different animals is not identical.

Also, for decades now the use of human tissue culture has increasingly been used for research. It is just that some laboratories are not prepared to give up their old-fashioned techniques (sometimes for financial reasons).

[Catherine]

Quote:Also, for decades now the use of human tissue culture has increasingly been used for research. It is just that some laboratories are not prepared to give up their old-fashioned techniques (sometimes for financial reasons).

They have spent a lot of money on facilities for testing things on animals. It would cost more money to repurpose the facilities for different testing methods.
In the end it would be money well spent, but companies are slow to change. The governments who mandate animal testing are even slower to change.
I don't know what it will take to finally end animal testing. Probably a total boycott of anything tested on animals is what it will take.

I think most of us try to use products not tested on animals.  We need to be much stricter about that and check out everything we use to make sure no animals were harmed in its making.