Drug research & testing

We need to be more logical in our approach to public policy matters especially health related ones,

There are three basic approaches you can take to testing new drugs.

1. Never test any new drugs, on anyone, so no new drugs ever ~ insane
2. Don’t test on volunteers, just release the drugs for general sale ~ more insane
3. Test on willing volunteers, after first lab, and then animal tests

What’s happened to these poor guys is desperate. But they took their chances. No-one pays you over £2,000 a pop, to test candy.

So, sorry, but if the company fulfilled its legal obligation, and was not negligent in the application of drugs, or allowed contamination in manufacture, you don’t get to sue.

Second, you don’t get to sweepingly conclude that “this proves all animal testing is pointless, as some of the animal lobby have claimed. It of course proves no such thing. Indeed animal testing has surely saved many more lives, both in not administering dangerous drugs to humans, and in terms of the new ones created.

The development of drugs has had almost unquantifiable benefits to humans. We cannot and must not abandon their development on a wave of emotion, nor must we stupidly punish the drug companies, because we feel sorry for the volunteers in this case.