Ethical Implications Of Animal Experimentation

For many years, animals have been used in research both in the scientific and medical fields. In order to introduce new drugs into the market, they have to be tested first on animals in order to ascertain whether they are effective or not. Animal experimentation in this context defines the use of non-humans, mostly animals, to test new drugs and consumer goods such as cosmetics, pesticides, herbicides, food additives, among others (Taylor 120). Pharmaceutical companies and research institutions have been active in animal experiments because these institutions are charged with coming up with new drugs. What has however been controversial with animal experiments is whether this procedure should be banned or not based on its ethical implications. Animal rights
With the recent technological advancement, substantive accomplishment has been made in the field of human medicine and science. In this regard, the use of animal testing cannot be underestimated. Taylor (132) maintains that animal experimentation has helped in unearthing new drugs that have helped to ease the suffering of humans from disease that was once witnessed in the past. Blakemore support Taylors point by indicating that vaccines for polio and cervical cancer, insulin, antibiotics, heart-bypass surgery, among others were all advances that were achieved through animal testing. For a patient to receive therapy or treatment, it has to be known that this originated from an arduous medical research involving animals. For instance, Blakemore uses an example of how people can easily forget the importance of animals in medical research. This is based on the fact that powerful drugs such as Avastin used to treat bowel, breast, and lung cancer were developed after research was conducted on mice. John Stein, the professor of Oxford Functional Neurosurgery Group also supports animal experiments because it