An article published in the peer-reviewed Medicolegal and Bioethics presents a rare challenge not just to the ethics but also to the science of using non human primates in research.
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Patients are now the real guinea pigs
Jan 6, ’11
12:48 PM
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Oct 12, ’10
09:00 AM
The campaign’s report presents an immediate science strategy to end poisoning tests on non-human primates.
Making a molehill out of the Bisphenol A mountain
Jul 6, ’10
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Antidote Europe has criticised the French government for taking very timid measures to ban the synthetic chemical bisphenol A (BPA). It makes no sense to protect nursing infants by banning the substance in baby bottles when their mothers are exposed to it on a daily basis — not to mention the effect on the foetuses of pregnant women.
Another warning about bisphenol A
Feb 10, ’10
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Antidote Europe has re-issued its warning on bisphenol A, criticizing the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) on its confused and unclear public announcements regarding this chemical.
Antidote Europe receives achievement award
Nov 26, ’09
06:47 AM
Antidote Europe was awarded the Pietro Croce prize.
Is Bisphenol A the new silent killer?
Aug 5, ’09
07:03 AM
Antidote Europe has launched a public campaign regarding the dangers of bisphenol A and has duly informed the new president of the European Parliament.
Bisphenol A, a chemical time bomb?
Jul 8, ’09
07:23 AM
It is difficult to understand why food safety agencies continue to place their trust in ambiguous animal data when human data is readily available. The fact that DES and BPA share striking similarities in their structures is extremely worrisome and lends weight to the possibility that BPA is a “chemical time bomb” in terms of our health.
EU directive lags woefully behind the science
Mar 30, ’09
08:17 AM
With a crucial vote about to take place on Tuesday 31st March, by the Agriculture Committee (AGRI) of the European Parliament, Antidote Europe has written to all members of this committee, urging them to include a clause in the revised version of the 86/609 directive, to facilitate the adoption of any scientifically sound, non animal method, based on the “weight of evidence” principle. Such a clause would significantly increase the scope and application of non animal methods in practice.
Press Releases
Adverse drug reactions kill 197,000 Europeans annually
Date
Thu 23 Jun 2011
Summary
In a letter addressed to EU Commissioner John Dalli, Antidote Europe points to the growing number of scientists who consider animal tests to be about as predictive as, or less than, tossing a coin.
Antidote Europe has written to EU Commissioner John Dalli about the growing number of scientists who consider animal tests to be about as predictive as, or less than, tossing a coin.
According to a recently published article in the medical journal The Lancet, “Adverse drug reactions have reached epidemic proportions and are increasing at twice the rate of prescriptions. The European Commission estimated in 2008 that adverse reactions kill 197,000 EU citizens annually, at a cost of €79 billion.”
The letter also adds: “It is increasingly clear that an important factor contributing to these problems is the over-reliance of the pharmaceutical industry on the use of animals to predict drug behaviour in man. The stark differences, not only in the diseases of different animal species, but also the ways that they respond to drugs, are now well known. Many studies have shown that animal tests frequently fail to translate to the clinic, with estimates of their ability to predict effects on people as low as 37–50%, or no better than the toss of a coin” (1).
In the letter to Commissioner Dalli, Antidote Europe’s director, Andre Menache, highlights the bizarre current situation in the EU in which animal testing remains a legal requirement for human pharmaceutical products while modern human-based DNA methods are only a voluntary requirement.
1) “Open letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley on safety of medicines”. The Lancet, Volume 377, Issue 9781, Page 1915, 4 June 2011.
Publication Date
Thu 23 Jun 2011
Contact
André Ménache
Mob: (0790) 644-6889