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From: bzs@bu-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Animal testing: are results valid for human comparisons at all?
Message-ID: <2627@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Date: Sun, 23-Nov-86 12:21:18 EST
Article-I.D.: bu-cs.2627
Posted: Sun Nov 23 12:21:18 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 24-Nov-86 01:24:15 EST
Organization: Boston U. Comp. Sci.
Lines: 40


C'mon zdenek, you're twisting Libby Sackett's comments out of all
proportion and being unnecessarily sarcastic to wit.

She simply said that she thought one can do a fine job of cleaning
a house using the same stuff (lye, bleach, soap) that her grandmother
used and wondered to what extent these companies are testing ingredients
we are all quite familiar with (eg. lye, she mentioned that specifically)
or introducing new ingredients simply to be able to say they have something
"new and improved", but of dubious value to get the tub scrubbed. It
wouldn't matter that they do except that the point is that in so doing
they engage in possibly cruel and likely (a priori) unnecessary animal
testing. She's simply saying that if that is the cost then thanks but
no thanks.

You drag in things like medicines to make your point, no one was
arguing about that so it's moot. The whole point was the testing of
things of clearly dubious value, like a new fragrance additive for
dishwashing soap.

Boy, I hate the technique on these lists of dragging someone's
point all over the place until one has suitably constructed a
straw man to knock down.

Maybe we should have a moratorium on paragraphs which begin with "Oh
yeah? Then what if..." which almost invariably is followed by
something the original poster never said nor intended, but provides an
easy target for the respondent.

Here's to intellectual honesty...

>>And as far as household cleaners, and the like.  My great-grandmother in
>>Italy was cleaning her house with the same chemicals I am using today:
>
>Our society demands new products, new medicine
>etc., and it also demands that these products are safe.

QED.

	-Barry Shein, Boston University