From Kathy Archibald, Europeans for Medical Progress
You highlight the fact that nine out of 10 drugs fail in humans despite success in animal models (21 January, p 6). This suggests that animal tests may not be the best way to ensure the safety of new medicines.
Clearly, if people can be used without risk – as with microdosing, for example – they would make far more appropriate models. Why not compare animal tests against a battery of human-based tests, including microdosing, to determine how best to protect the public from another Vioxx? Europeans for Medical Progress is calling for precisely such an evaluation: see www.curedisease.net for details.
London, UK
