KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A national medical ethics nonprofit called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine will file a federal complaint with the US Department of Agriculture over Western Michigan University’s Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine sending residents to Charles River Laboratories in Mattawan.
The nonprofit says the students perform invasive procedures on live pigs before killing them and say the practice has been ended by all 24 other accredited programs in the state.
They will file the complaint on Thursday.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says the WMed residents force open pigs’ ribs, make incisions near their eyes, and cut open their throats. The animals are supposed to be unconscious, but the nonprofit says evidence from the University of Michigan shows it is difficult to keep pigs under anesthesia.
The nonprofit has also installed four billboards in downtown Kalamazoo near WMed’s campus featuring a pig looking at the camera with the message: “Tell Western Michigan: Stop Killing Animals to Train Doctors” along with the website PCRM.org/WMed.
Compared to humans, pigs have smaller torsos, lighter limbs, and thicker skin. There are also important differences in the anatomy of the head and neck, internal organs, rib cage, blood vessels, and the airway. WMed’s simulation center has devices that are, according to the medical school’s website, a “sufficiently realistic representation of a person” and could be used to replace animals.
Scientific studies confirm that simulators are equal or superior to animals for teaching emergency procedures. Research from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Army, and elsewhere demonstrates that simulators effectively replicate real-world stress and improve performance, rendering animals unnecessary.
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