Saturday 13 May 2006

Letter in the Dundee Courier

Following my post the other day when I mentioned how much I hate the 'mock shock' about GSK doing animal testing, I noticed the following letter in the Dundee Courier:

Can we trust this company?

Sir,—After reading your article about GSK share-holders being sent threatening letters and the comment made by GSK about continuing to use medical research company HLS, a research company that uses animals, I found it hard to believe as for the last 20 plus years I and many others have been under the belief that no animal testing was carried out on behalf of GSK.

Glaxo, as it was known in those days, have always stated that “No research was carried out on animals” to shareholders and employees and this has never been changed.

Are they a company who should be believed after this revelation? They appear to have been two-faced about this statement, just as they appear to have been to their employees over the past four years, with regard to their site at Montrose being sold, then closing. Now we hear, in our local area, that they may be still open in 2010.

What sort of message are they giving out to shareholders and the general public?
Frances Robb.
3 Antiquary Gardens,
Arbroath.


This kind of irritated me, so I wrote back the following, not actually expecting it to be published, but it was!

Not really a ‘revelation’

Sir,—Frances Robb (May 11) says she has been ‘under the belief that no animal testing was carried out on behalf of GSK’ and says the news that GSK carries out such research is a ‘revelation’.

The only ‘revelation’ to me is that anyone would actually believe that one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies does not carry out proper trials in the development of their life-saving drugs!

Just like any company dedicated to improving human health, from the smallest university spin-out biotech company, to the largest global pharma company, GSK is obliged to ensure the safety of their drugs, prior to human trials, in carefully controlled animal testing experiments.

I would be interested to see evidence of Glaxo stating that it did not carry out animal research.

Perhaps the letter writer is referring to Glaxo’s origins as a producer of dried milk power in New Zealand in the early 1900s?

(Dr) Steven Renwick.
Oxford.


Not bad eh?

They did edit the letter slightly to make it less scathing. I notice the word 'ignorant' is missing. I also thought Frances was a man when I wrote. lol!

I was also pleased to notice that several UK investment funds had published their support for the pharmaceutical industry in the Financial Times. This contrasts quite sadly to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which removed Huntington Life Science's listing just before it was due to be listed, presumably due to threats. There was, however, a full page advert taken out in the New York times, which claimed that terorrists (the animal rights extremists) are controlling the NYSE. It seems these guys put the ad up.

It does seem a little strange for Americans to give in to terrorists. I wonder when the reason for the withdrawl will come out?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You tell them how it is Doc!!

Anonymous said...

Could you also change the identity when you post a comment from 'anonymous' to 'not so anonymous' as the time keeps giving it away that its me!!