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The United States Department of Agriculture has sent a warning to the Eastern Virginia Medical School at Old Dominion University alleging research done in years prior using animals violated the Animal Welfare Act. Specifically, the warning notes issues in past research using chinchillas and monkeys. The USDA’s warning alleges that researchers at the school, formerly known as Eastern Virginia Medical School, modified their research without proper approval.
In animal research, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee must approve the study or experiment’s plan or protocol, and if any modifications are needed, researchers must consult with the IACUC. Though the March 11 letter is not a final action from the department, it warns any further infractions may result in more serious consequences such as a civil penalty or criminal prosecution. According to the warning, several chinchillas were kept on a study despite “passing humane endpoints” during research performed from in 2020.
The Virginian-Pilot previously reported on USDA reports that detailed some of the experiments. For one experiment, the IACUC approved that the chinchillas could lose up to 20% of their body weight before researchers were required to remove them from the study. The USDA found that the chinchillas lost 25% to 30% of their body weights, but researchers never took the animals off the study.
The USDA also found the approved protocol planned for the chinchillas to be on the study for 21 weeks. However, medical records showed that some of the animals remained on the study for 21 months, from March 2020 to November 2021. Three of the chinchillas were euthanized during the experiment, and another died.
Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University merged last year, forming the largest health sciences center in Virginia. The Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University did not respond to a request for comment Monday about the USDA warning. In response to previous reporting, EVMS said restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic had hampered access to the facilities where the chinchillas were housed and that EVMS had been contracted to provide the facility for the chinchilla research by another company.
In a different study in 2022 using rhesus macaques, a kind of primate more often known as a rhesus monkey, researchers administered insulin through an IV to anesthetize the animals. The USDA found that two of the male macaques were older than the protocol that IACUC approved, and five female macaques were underweight. The primates were also given, in some cases, more than double the amount of “sweetened beverage” used in the study, and some of the macaques were on the study longer than approved.
USDA inspectors also found that the researchers “failed to utilize appropriate methods” to treat medical issues during the experiments. Issues arose during IV insulin procedures, such as the death of one monkey and unresolved low blood sugar in others. One of the macaques was under anesthesia for more than four hours and did not receive medical care despite showing signs of hypoglycemia.
Researchers later euthanized the animal, and 11 primates took an “excessive amount of time” to recover. EVMS previously said that medical intervention did occur, but it was not documented. Female baboons were used during pregnancy studies, and the USDA claims that protocols approved by the IACUC were also not followed.
Five baboons were not weighed as frequently as needed, and inspectors found a lack of documentation in how much blood had been drawn from the animals. One of the baboons was found unresponsive, and the USDA found no documentation or records on what treatment followed the discovery. “The only entry is from the (attending veterinarian) stating the animal was found unresponsive at 6 a.
m., but by the time the (attending veterinarian) arrived, the animal had consumed apple, was awake, quiet, alert and responsive,” the warning states. The school, however, has maintained that the animals were always cared for, and the research is vital.
“Taxpayers should not foot the bill for this deeply troubling pattern of mistreatment of animals, and PETA calls on the National Institutes of Health to cut funding immediately,” said Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president for animal rights group PETA. Last year, PETA filed a complaint against the school, alleging abuse against baboons that went through Caesarian sections for pregnancy research. In 2021, the USDA sent an official warning for those studies, as well.
Dr. Alfred Abuhamad, executive vice president for Health Sciences and dean of EVMS, said in a statement last year that “attacks” about the pregnancy research have been unfair. He said the on-site veterinarian at the school provides “utmost reverence and care.
” “My colleagues and I hope that the time will come when enough is learned so that the vital research being conducted is no longer necessary, so that the millions of families who are affected by preeclampsia can be spared the hardship and heartache that often accompany it,” Abuhamad said. “Until that time arrives, we are committed to participating in this crucial research, part of a larger effort to close the ‘women’s health gap.’” Eliza Noe, eliza.
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