The emergency response program at USC is halting its use of live pigs following a federal complaint from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The program will instead use simulation technologies.
The university statement released in conjuction with Palmetto Health reads: "The use of live animals in the training of emergency medicine physicians was scheduled to end this year. We are not planning to seek renewal of the live animal training program at this time. Continued advances in simulation technology make it possible for us to make this change at this time. In doing so, we affirm our belief that preparing health care providers for the preservation of human life is our greatest responsibility and we are confident that this change will not adversely affect the quality of our training program.”
The University of South Carolina was one of 19 emergency residency programs in the U.S. still using animals. On Aug. 25, the Physicians Committee filed a complaint alleging that the university was in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.
In a statement released Aug. 24, the university had said that "the use of animals in the training of emergency medicine physicians is limited to a very small number of circumstances which cannot be adequately replicated by simulation experiences."
The university website for the office of the vice president of research still contains a statement that "the use of laboratory animals for teaching and research is fundamental to advances in biology and medicine."
A petition to stop the training program's use of pigs during training had almost 9,000 signatures on Care2, the "largest social network of activists creating petitions." The petition cited the Physicians Committee complaint.
The university has not responded to requests for a statement.
Read our Aug. 25 article on the complaint here.