Originally Posted by Cincy'sMom
I too work in an area where I have first hand knowledge of animal testing. I am not directly involved in it myself, as I work for a chemistry depratment, where we are actaully looking to minimize animal testing. We encourage our clients to use chemistry to understand and predict the toxicology of their products before any animals are used. We also do as much testing as possible through in vitro (test tube) methods, again, to gather as much information ahead of time before any animals are exposed.
Our company tests strictly medical devices (no cosemetics) and as Smokey said, it is required and tightly control by the FDA. We may not like it, but the fact is every pharmcuetical and every medical device we use every day has to go through this testing.
Another way we are trying to reduce animal testing is through equivlency. A company may have a medical deivce approved, and then a supplier changes a material. The FDA requires this be retested, however if they can use chemistry to show there is no change in the toxilogical impact of the change, animal testing can be reduced, or avoiding all together.