About 25 Maryland physicians, who are members of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, demonstrated Thursday at Johns Hopkins University’s medical school to protest the school’s use of live pigs in teaching students.
Dr. Rhoda Ruttenberg, a psychiatrist who practices in Montgomery County and Washington, D.C., called using animals in medical school labs unethical and unnecessary. It’s unethical because the anesthetized pigs are killed after medical students practice procedures on them and unnecessary because there are other training methods available. “Computer driven simulation technology has gotten incredibly sophisticated,” Ruttenberg said. “You can do a virtual operation without touching an animal or patient or cadaver. You can learn the same techniques.”
Pradip Sahdev, a University of Maryland surgeon, said he refused to operate on animals when he was a medical student in India and here in the United States. He said his education did not suffer and agreed that Hopkins should consider alternatives to using pigs. Other medical institutions use human-like mannequins that have blood vessels and fluids in them in addition to computerized simulations, he said. “The simulator called the trauma man is just as effective, if not more effective, than [animal use] and much more in line with the ethics and training of the medical profession.” he said. “As physicians, we have a moral obligation to prevent suffering and that extends to animals. What is happening [at Hopkins’ medical school] is sanctioned animal abuse.”
Hopkins is one of four medical schools in the U.S. that still use animals in teaching labs. A university spokesperson said the labs, where medical students perform surgical procedures on pigs, are optional, in compliance with regulations, and that they have no plans to shut them down.
Richard Bruno, a resident at Hopkins, said he hopes the demonstration will cause medical school officials to rethink the program. “We had pig labs to experiment with drugs at the Oregon Health and Science University and the experience was deeply disturbing for me,” Bruno said. “They have since discontinued using animals and I personally feel it was not a necessary part of my medical training. As more students understand they can get the training in different ways, I think they’ll feel the same. ”
At the end of the demonstration, Bruno delivered a petition to medical school officials calling for an end to the use of live animals in the school’s lab. It was signed by 120 Maryland doctors, who are also PCRM members.