* Botox for wrinkles is tested on animals *

[chimper]

Each year, American doctors inject more than 3 million doses of Botox to temporarily smooth their patients' wrinkles and frown lines. But before each batch is shipped, the manufacturer puts it through one of the oldest and most controversial animal tests available.

To check the potency of its product under federal safety rules, Allergan Inc. injects mice with Botox until it finds a dose at which half of the animals die -- a rough gauge of potential harm to humans.

Animal protection groups consider "lethal dose 50," as the test is known, to be "the poster child for everything that's wrong with animal testing," said Martin Stephens, vice president for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States.

"It's as bad as it gets, poisoning animals to death."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041103733_pf.html

[Elspeth]

1. If only they could find a way to test it on cockroaches

Then it would be good all around. Fewer evil little pests and lots of vain people full of poison. :)

Of course, someone would probably defend the cockroaches: probably someone who has never lived in an old building in the city.

[and-justice-for-all]

2. Animal testing is deplorable..nt

[skepticscott]

3. And have you made a solemn commitment

to refuse any type of medical treatment that has been developed as a result of animal testing, even at the cost of your own life, or the life of someone you love? Does your principle extend that far, or is it simply a declaration?

[and-justice-for-all]

4. I do what I can to not support companies/products

that have been tested on Animals.

There is no need to test on Animals for any reason, there are alternative methods that can be utilized and should be untilized.

[Beaverhausen]

5. animal testing is nothing new, unfortunately.

http://pleasebekind.com/testing.html



Every single day more than 38,000 animals are used to test cosmetics, toiletries like toothpaste and shampoo, and household detergents and cleaners. The most common test is called the Draize test where products are put directly into the animals’ eyes and technicians record the effects. The "Lethal Dose" test measures the amount of a product it takes to kill part of a group of animals forced to eat it. THESE TESTS ARE NOT REQUIRED BY LAW, but some companies continue to use them to protect themselves from future lawsuits.

Companies that don’t use animals use human volunteers to test their products. This makes more sense because rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats and other small animals are not like people at all so there’s no guarantee that their reactions will be similar. More than 500 companies have already given up animal testing.