Deprivation Of Benefits For Primates In Research
In this paper, the authors point out that a typical experimental environment causes extreme physical, social, and psychological harms to non-human primates, often culminating with their death. Since their experience of harm is similar to that of humans, yet they derive minimal (if any) benefit from the experimentation, the authors argue that research on primates should be subject to the same ethical considerations as research on humans who have limited capacity to act in their own interests or provide informed consent (e.g., children).
[Abstract excerpted from original source.]
“The risks of harm to nonhuman primates, and the absence of benefits for them, are critically important to decisions about nonhuman primate research. Current guidelines for review and practice tend to be permissive for nonhuman primate research as long as minimal welfare requirements are fulfilled and human medical advances are anticipated. This situation is substantially different from human research, in which risks of harms to the individual subject are typically reduced to the extent feasible. A risk threshold is needed for the justification of research on nonhuman primates, comparable to the way risk thresholds are set for vulnerable human subjects who cannot provide informed consent. Much of the laboratory research conducted today has inadequate standards, leading to common physical, psychological, and social harms.”