Are You Willing to be the Guinea Pig
Instead?
Have
you ever taken penicillin or tetracycline?
Do you use shampoos, soaps, deodorants, sun blocks and other
cosmetics?
Have you been immunized against...
Lockjaw? Whooping Cough? Diphtheria? Measles? Polio?
If so,
you are already receiving
the benefits of medical research.
It is
scary to think of dying of cancer, heart disease, or a stroke.
What about Multiple sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease?
What is your chance of getting AIDS - or of survival if you do get
it?
Will you or someone you love develop a serious illness like...
Alzheimer's or Parkinson's Disease?
Schizophrenia?
Clinical Depression?
The
work of biomedical research is far from done. We cannot stand idly
by when millions of
people are suffering and dying from these and other diseases.
The
only answer is biomedical research, and these are some proven facts
we should know:
Tissue Culture
|
Collections of cells in a test
tube -- used widely now in laboratories -- is an important
adjunct but does not represent the complexity of the whole
living body. |
Computer Simulation
|
Also widely used in
laboratories, this too is an important adjunct -- however,
science as yet does not have enough information to simulate
all the processes of a living organism. |
Animals
|
As yet, there is no alternative
for the final testing of new drugs, procedures, and medical
models on animals before human application. |
Humans
|
In accordance with the basic
principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (1964), biomedical
research involving human subjects must conform to generally
accepted scientific principles and should
be based on adequately performed laboratory and animal
experimentation and
on a thorough knowledge of the scientific literature.
Worldwide, various forms of legislation or regulations
reinforce this international code. |
Animals should be protected. They should be maintained in safe and
healthy conditions. They should not be used callously, carelessly,
or cruelly. They should share in the benefits of medical research.
They should not be sacrificed needlessly. But the search for the
causes and cures of human and animal diseases must continue. You and
your children and loved ones are and will be the beneficiaries of
ongoing biomedical research.
We Should All Work to Correct Abuses,
But Decide Carefully Where Humanity's Best Future Lies!
