I was pleased to read Hella Gamper's explanation of the health perils caused by testing drugs on animals (Letters, March 17).
Even pharmaceutical manufacturers who publicly claim these tests to be necessary admit in private that they serve no scientific purpose.
At a discussion on animal testing I attended a few years ago, the press officer of a major German drug company conceded tests on animals prove nothing about the safety of a new drug for human patients.
He explained manufacturers only use this method as a quicker means of getting their product to market.
In other words, such tests are commercial, not scientific.
As to animal research at Oxford and other British universities, it is curious that whereas the experimenters and our Government state how "vital" this is, a number of German universities gave up the use of animals some years ago due to its irrelevance. Surely it's time for the UK to follow suit.
-Dennis B Stuart, Brighton
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