U.S. agency cites UCSF for abuses of animals

[Guest guest]

 

 

> " Linda J. Howard " <lindajhoward

> September 15, 2004 9:17:01 AM PDT

> " Primfocus " <primfocus

> primfocus: U.S. agency cites UCSF for abuses of animals

>

> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/09/15/MNG088P5B61.DTL

> U.S. agency cites UCSF for abuses of animals

> 'The gravity of the violations is great,' complaint says

>

> Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer

> Wednesday, September 15, 2004

>

> Federal regulators have filed a complaint against UC San Francisco

> alleging

> 60 violations of the Animal Welfare Act that ranged from failing to

> keep

> animal cages clean to improper treatment of research animals during and

> after surgery.

>

> The complaint by the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the

> violations took

> place between 2001 and 2003 and included such startling surgical

> procedures

> as cutting into a monkey's skull without providing pain relief.

>

> The violations originally were reported by USDA inspectors during

> biannual

> visits to UCSF.

>

> " The gravity of the violations is great, " the complaint says. It was

> issued

> Aug. 31 and gives the university 20 days to respond.

>

> Colleen Carroll, a USDA attorney, said that violations of the Animal

> Welfare

> Act could result in civil or criminal penalties or revocation or

> suspension

> of a medical research license.

>

> " UCSF takes all citations from the USDA and other animal welfare

> agencies

> very seriously, " Ara Tahmassian, associate vice chancellor of research

> at

> the university, said Tuesday. " All allegations are reviewed and

> corrective

> actions taken. "

>

> Tahmassian said the university had not received a copy of the USDA

> complaint. A copy was provided by The Chronicle. Tahmassian said the

> document appeared to be " a restatement, a compilation, of citations

> previously issued to UCSF. "

>

> He noted that the university had recently received a coveted stamp of

> approval from the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of

> Laboratory

> Animal Care, a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane

> treatment of animals.

>

> " The accreditation is given to organizations exhibiting the highest

> standards for the humane care and use of animals in research, "

> Tahmassian

> said.

>

> The USDA has filed fewer than a dozen formal complaints against animal

> research facilities over the past 10 years.

>

> UCSF is the nation's fourth-largest National Institutes of Health grant

> recipient. It has more than 500 active research studies involving

> rodents,

> rabbits, dogs, cats, sheep, pigs, ferrets, squirrels and nonhuman

> primates.

>

> The university came under fire in early August when a national group

> trying

> to stop the use of animals in medical research called UCSF the nation's

> worst violator of federal animal welfare laws.

>

> At the time, Tahmassian said that animal research was taken seriously

> and

> done conscientiously. He said the university tried to minimize the use

> of

> animals and seeks alternatives. However, he said, he believes such

> research

> is essential to medical innovation.

>

> Among its breakthroughs, the university cites the work of a UCSF

> researcher

> who spent three decades studying the lungs of rabbits, dogs, cows and

> other

> animals and produced an artificial form of a substance that coats the

> interior of lungs and allows them to expand and contract. The discovery

> saves the lives of tens of thousands of premature infants every year

> who are

> born without the ability to produce the substance. Other breakthroughs

> include the development of treatments for common heart disorders and an

> improved understanding of the human immunodeficiency virus.

>

> The USDA complaint focuses on the research test subjects: the animals.

>

> Some of the more serious violations cited include:

>

> -- Performing surgery on a ewe and her fetus without anesthesia or pain

> killer.

>

> -- Doing a craniotomy to expose a monkey's brain without administering

> analgesics.

>

> -- Over-breeding marmoset monkeys.

>

> -- Depriving monkeys of water, resulting in severe weight loss.

>

> -- Not monitoring animals after surgery.

>

> The complaint faults the university's marmoset breeding program.

> Monkeys

> reportedly had multiple consecutive pregnancies while at the same time

> nursing infants.

>

> Over three years, the document says, one marmoset gave birth seven

> times to

> 14 babies, six of which died. The mother dropped from 400 grams to 283

> grams

> and was reported by the inspector to be lethargic. When she and her

> newborn

> were separated from the group cage, the complaint says, she was found

> to be

> " thin and clearly depressed. " A month later, " the infant was lethargic,

> nonresponsive and detached from its mother, and was euthanized. The

> mother

> was later euthanized as well. "

>

> Other alleged violations ranged from failing to adequately clean the

> cages

> of dogs, cats, rodents and rabbits to not ensuring that food supplies

> are

> protected from infestation.

>

> Suzanne Roy, program director for In Defense of Animals, said the

> heart of

> the USDA's complaint was animal suffering.

>

> " These are incidents the USDA uncovered during its twice-a-year

> inspections

> to the labs, " said Roy, whose organization has worked for six years to

> expose problems at the university. " A lot of the suffering occurred in

> front

> of the eyes of the inspector. You can only imagine what goes on when

> the

> inspector is not present. "

>

> UCSF joins a small group of research facilities that have been the

> subject

> of USDA complaints. Before complaints are filed, letters of warnings

> are

> issued and penalties levied. In 2000, UCSF agreed to pay a $2,000

> penalty

> for a researcher's use of water deprivation to train his monkeys.

>

> E-mail Julian Guthrie at jguthrie.

>

>