A national physicians' advocacy group has filed a complaint in federal court against the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, claiming the hospital's use of live animals for medical training violates the Animal Welfare Act, according to the Star Tribune.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, also said HCMC possesses the resources to train physicians without using live animals and the hospital provided outdated statistics to validate their use.
The group said it has open records documenting that HCMC used 450 sheep and 450 rabbits during the course of three years to train physicians to perform 20 medical procedures, including drilling holes in skulls to relieve pressure, removing fluid from vital organs and inserting breathing tubes, according to the report.
The group argues advancements in simulated surgical methods and the availability of high-tech mannequins have rendered the use of live animals unnecessary for medical training.
"Animal use is not even essential for research into drug and human diseases," said John Pippin, MD, a retired cardiologist and member of the group, according to the report. "It's not needed to train doctors to do medical procedures."
Another physician member, Matthew Clayton, MD, who signed on to the complaint, said the use of live animals for medical training might have been justified in the 1980s before technology made alternatives accessible, but it is no longer justified.
HCMC released a statement saying it has lowered its use of live animals plans to eventually eliminate the practice, but "a few critical, lifesaving procedures … can only be reliably taught" with live animals, according to the report.