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  2. The Buzz: Leukemia Patient Blames Animal Research

The Buzz: Leukemia Patient Blames Animal Research

By amillikan on March 9, 2009.

In an opinion piece published in the Huffington Post Wednesday, a woman dying of leukemia vehemently spoke out against animal testing in medicine, positing that scientists might have found a cure for her condition by now if "they weren't sidetracked by misleading animal tests." While acknowledging the unfortunate nature of the woman's situation, ScienceBloggers are criticizing her stance that animal trials are not beneficial or are somehow to blame for the woman's sickness, asserting the necessity of using animal models for drug research and reinforcing that researchers must proceed in ways that minimize the suffering of even the tiniest of subjects. "[She] should not be allowed to use her own impending death to falsely claim the role of a martyr to animal rights research, a martyr whose life would have been saved if it weren't for [the] animal researchers who are... ironically enough, trying to find ways to save the lives of patients just like her," said ScienceBlogger Orac from Respectful Insolence.

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