[Omeo33] Art 0880 - Compl Ther Med, 2008, 16 (1), 1-2

[Gino Santini]

Animal research in CAM: Is it still an issue?
Robbert van Haselen

Research on animals to support the evidence base of CAM therapies has 
always been a sensitive issue. Some CAM supporters are against animal 
experimentation altogether and this has sometimes been fervently 
expressed. However, more often the topic is simply not discussed at 
all because of the purported political sensitivity of the issue. 
Hence the noise made by those who are strongly against the use of 
animals will attract most attention, but this is not necessarily 
representative of the views of the wider community. When faced with a 
difficult decision whether or not to publish a paper involving animal 
experimentation in Complementary Therapies in Medicine, I decided to 
explore this issue further.
First of all I would like to summarise the main points of the 
international guidelines on the use of animals in biomedical research 
as formulated by the Council for International Organisations of 
Medical Sciences (CIOMS) which can be found online at 
http://www.cioms.ch/frame_1985_texts_of_guidelines.htm. The main 
ideas behind this guideline are that: animal models should be avoided 
if at all possible; animals should be properly housed and treated; 
pain and suffering should minimised; the question should be asked 
whether the experiments are really necessary. In addition, 
experiments should be independently reviewed and approved by an 
Institutional Review Board/Ethical Committee. Further to the CIOMS 
guidelines, many countries have formulated their own guidelines, such 
as for instance the UK 'Department of Health Memorandum for House of 
Lords Committee on Animals in Scientific procedures'.
Most CAM journals, including Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 
will allow the publication of animal studies but only if no 
alternative genuinely exists, and where the importance of the 
scientific benefit justifies the use of animals. The question of 
course lies in the importance of the scientific benefit, which may be 
judged differently for CAM therapies than for conventional medicines. 
If the latter were true, specific standards/criteria might be 
required for animal research in CAM.

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