polishes.Should thousandsofanimalssuffersothata new
kindoflipstickorfloorwaxcanbeputonthemarket?Don’t
wealreadyhaveanexcessofmostoftheseproducts?Who
benefits from theirintroduction,except the companies that
hope to profit from them?
Infact,evenwhenthetestiscarriedoutonamedicalproduct,
itismostprobablynotgoingtodoanythingtoimproveour
health. Scientists working for the British Department of
Health and Social Security examined drugs marketed in
Britain between 1971 and 1981. New drugs, they found,
havelargely beenintroducedinto therapeuticareasalready
heavilyoversubscribed...forconditionswhicharecommon,
largelychronicandoccurprincipallyintheaffluentWestern
Society. Innovation is therefore largely directed towards
commercial returns rather than therapeutic need.^49
Toappreciatewhatisinvolvedinintroducingallthesenew
productsitisnecessarytoknowsomethingaboutthestandard
methodsoftesting.Inorder todetermine howpoisonousa
substanceis,“acuteoraltoxicitytests”areperformed.These
tests, developed in the 1920s, force animals to ingest
substances,includingnonedibleproductssuchaslipstickand
paper.Often theanimals willnoteat thesubstanceifit is
simplyplaced in their food,soexperimenters either force-
feedtheanimalsbymouthorinsertatubedowntheirthroats.
Standardtestsarecarriedoutforfourteendaysbutsomemay
lastforupto sixmonths—iftheanimalssurvivethatlong.
Duringthistime,theanimalsoftendisplayclassicsymptoms
of poisoning, including vomiting, diarrhea, paralysis,
convulsions, and internal bleeding.