Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough approved an experiment last year to implant sensors for a prosthetic hand into cats — a move that members of Congress say is “at odds” with new federal laws meant to limit the government’s use of dogs, cats and primates in experiments.
The lawmakers have asked Mr. McDonough to reconsider his decision, saying there are other ways to meet the Food and Drug Administration’s requirements for bringing new products to the market without having to resort to “cruel” testing.
The White Coat Waste Project, a spending watchdog that focuses on animal testing, obtained documents detailing the experiment and the lawmakers’ objections.
Justin Goodman, the group’s senior vice president, said the VA had ended all cat and dog testing last year, so it was disturbing to see the experiment was approved.
Rep. Brian Mast, Florida Republican, called the renewed testing “a huge step backwards.”
“It’s unnecessary, unacceptable and would undo so much of the progress we’ve made to stop VA cat experiments,” he said.
Mr. Mast, a combat-wounded Army veteran, and Rep. Dina Titus, Nevada Democrat, wrote a letter to the VA in April raising questions about the cats.
The experiment, taking place at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, is aimed at testing an improved prosthetic hand. According to Mr. McDonough’s 2022 justification for the experiment, wires and pressure sensors are implanted under the skin and are supposed to restore a sense of touch.
The technology could also be used to help stroke survivors and those who have had a leg amputated, the VA said.
The research was approved for seven cats to have the implants for six months.
The VA said cats must be used because they are the right size. Sensors are too large for rodents and too small for pigs or sheep. Rabbits are the right size but don’t have the right behavior patterns.
“Only adult felines are properly sized to accommodate the Prosthetic Hand’s implanted connector and their natural behavior simulates movement and stressors on the connectors similarly to a physically active person,” the VA said.
The department also said it was adhering to FDA rules requiring live animal testing before study on humans.
The folks at White Coat Waste, though, say that all changed late last year when Congress passed a provision written by Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, to end the animal testing requirement.
Without that prod, the lawmakers said, Mr. McDonough needs to rejustify his reasoning.
“We are concerned that the new cat experiments you approved are not legally required, not scientifically necessary and may be at odds with federal law governing the VA’s animal research,” they said.
The Washington Times has reached out to the VA for this story.
The analysts at WCW have found evidence that cats involved in other medical device experiments in recent years at Stokes, the VA clinic involved, had to be euthanized after they were injured during surgical complications, the lawmakers said.
They demanded to know the status of the cat experiment, the planned costs involved and how Mr. McDonough justified the program now that the law changed late last year.
WCW says it has learned that the VA has not yet purchased the cats to carry out the research, but the grant that the experiment would be part of was just renewed. It has raked in $1.4 million so far, including $426,785 in taxpayer money in 2022.
“Following our investigations, campaigns, and lobbying, last year the VA completely ended its painful testing on dogs and cats, but we’ve now exposed the Biden administration’s preposterous plan to put seven more cats under the knife, once again, in a wasteful spending spree opposed by Republicans and Democrats in Congress,” Mr. Goodman said.
He said “suitable alternatives that don’t torture pets are readily available.”
WCW has previously exposed experiments that drilled into cats’ skulls and crippled them then made them run on treadmills to try to see how their bodies reacted.
The group said that after public pressure, the VA conducted no cat experiments in 2022 at its labs in Los Angeles, Louisville and Cleveland. Those had been the only active cat experiment locations previously.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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