UW may have to pay back some monkey-study funds

[Guest guest]

http://seattletimes .nwsource. com/html/ localnews/ 2004315722_ primates30m. htmlUW may have to pay back some monkey-study fundsBy Carol M. OstromSeattle Times health reporterThe University of Washington may have to pay back some federal researchgrant money because of ongoing oversight problems at its controversialprimate-research center, UW and federal officials have confirmed.The problems stem from unapproved surgical procedures done on monkeysduring research funded by the National Eye Institute, a federal agency,said Nona Phillips, director of the UW's Office of Animal Welfare.Documents obtained under public-disclosure laws cite dozens of suchsurgeries in the labs of neurosciences researchers studying therelationship between the brain and eye movement.The UW

says the problems amount to a paperwork glitch thatinadvertentlyomitted mention of particular surgeries during revisions of researchprotocols, which must be approved by a UW committee before research canproceed.The UW says it has taken steps to improve oversight, and the federalagency responsible for ensuring the "humane care and use" of animals inresearch, the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), has saidit issatisfied by those steps and has closed the case.But the possibility that grant money may have to be refunded "is stillunder consideration and investigation, " said Dr. Michael Oberdorfer, aprogram director at the National Eye Institute, part of the federalNational Institutes of Health.And activists who have long targeted the UW's primate center ascruel andinhumane say it proves the UW is not taking seriously orders toclean upits practices at the Washington National Primate

Research Center onthe UWcampus."The fact that the UW characterizes this incident41 surgeries on 14 monkeysas a clerical error seems unduly dismissive to me," said DebraDurham,the Seattle-based primate specialist for People for the EthicalTreatmentof Animals (PETA)."Ethically speaking, we can't afford to lose sight of the animals. Forthem, the difference between two surgeries and six or 10 is muchmore thanpaperwork."Previous problemsThe recent troubles are the latest in a long string of problems for theUW's animal-research facilities.In 1995, the university risked losing U.S. Department of Agricultureaccreditation for its primate-breeding facility near Spokane when fivebaboons died of cold-weather exposure or thirst. The school paid a fineand closed the aging facility.In late 2006, the UW was put on probation by the facilities accreditingagency, the Association

for Assessment and Accreditation of LaboratoryAnimal Care (AAALAC). Although inspectors praised the UW for itsveterinary care and medical record-keeping, they noted "seriousdeficiencies" in animal-research facilities in Seattle, includingmonkeylabs that leaked steam from a cage-washing device, inadequate lighting,and lack of alarms to alert people in case of heating orair-conditioningfailure.The UW's Phillips said the university has corrected all thedeficiencies,except those that require remodeling of the facility, and that's beingplanned. But the UW is still on probation from AAALAC.The most recent problems were brought to the attention of federalagenciesin late 2006 by a Cincinnati animal activist, Michael Budkie, whoheads agroup called Stop Animal Exploitation Now!, or SAEN. Budkie complainedthat certain monkeys used in neurosciences studies were beingmistreated.After a three-day

visit in late October 2006, a USDA inspectordismissedmost of Budkie's allegations but noted that "many discrepancies wereuncovered" in animal research done by Albert Fuchs, a neurosciencesresearcher studying how the brain controls eye movement.The inspector said some monkeys had received many more surgeriesthan wereallowed in the protocols approved by the UW's animal-welfare oversightcommittee, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, as well assurgeries that were "outside the realm" of the protocols.Primate A01136, a rhesus macaque, for example, died after eightsurgeries,including one that removed a section of its cranial bone andinstalled arecording cylinder on its brain with acrylic and screws. The approvedprotocol called for only two minor surgeries, with possible need forreadjustment or repair.Two other primates also had undergone more surgeries than called for inthe protocols,

the inspector said.In addition, the approved protocols didn't specify the way thatresearchers were supposed to drill through the monkey's eye-socketbone torun wires from an implant to a screw in the skull.The inspector also criticized Fuchs for saying his animals hadexperiencedno unexpected adverse events or deaths in the past year, even thoughthemacaque called A01136 had died, apparently of hypothermia aftersurgery.The federal OLAW office closed the UW's case in March 2007 butreopened itin May after PETA complained about more unauthorized surgeries andunacceptable sterilization of the implants being used.The federal animal-welfare office told the UW to review five years'worthof neuroscience primate protocols and animal records. Phillips saidthathadn't been done before because it was assumed the USDA inspector hadidentified all nonapproved procedures in her report.That

review found two additional researchers' labs had performedunauthorized surgeriesa total of 39 unapproved surgeries on 16 monkeys over four years.Figures uncertainAltogether, the grants for the three neurosciences researchers for theperiods covered by the unapproved surgeries total several milliondollars,though no one can agree on the exact figure.The researchers say they're trying to learn how the brain controlsmovement, in an effort to improve treatment of stroke and other braindisorders.Phillips said there is no indication the UW could lose entiregrants. Butshe said it might have to refund what was spent on the unauthorizedsurgeries and care afterward, which the UW has calculated at more than$189,000.Phillips said the unauthorized surgeries occurred because an update ofresearch protocols mistakenly removed wording noting that if hardwareplaced in animals' heads broke or needed to

be readjusted, latersurgerieswould be required.As for the sterilization of implants, the UW said it has changed to adifferent sterilizing solution, even though it denies a problem withtheold formula.Phillips stresses that federal inspectors found no "animalmistreatment oranimal suffering," and she expressed frustration that critics claimotherwise."The university has a clean slate on that," Phillips said.In a letter to the UW on March 3, an OLAW director wrote that theagencywas satisfied the UW "has implemented measures to correct and preventrecurrence of the original problem," and would inform PETA that theallegations it raised have been "appropriately addressed."Carol M. Ostrom: 206-464-2249 or costrom@seattletime s.com http://pets.Fortheanimals7/join