RAB Source Entry 2- Randy Carrasco

Part 1 – MLA Citation

PARKER KATHLEEN. (2021, October 13). Time to rethink how we use animals to test pharmaceuticals. Post and Courier. https://www.postandcourier.com/time-to-rethink-how-we-use-animals-to-test-pharmaceuticals/article_2b021255-6e6e-52ba-b4f7-f7bce7a1dd03.html 

Part 2 – Summary

In The Post and Courier opinion piece “Time to rethink how we use animals to test pharmaceuticals”, the author Kathleen Parker writes that animal testing in pharmaceuticals should end. Parker describes animal testing as “one of our nation’s most-barbaric practices”. Parker goes on by writing that she does not believe that we should still use a 1930’s era law, this law requires animal testing before human trials. Parker goes on by saying that when the Covid-19 pandemic hit we got a vaccine in record time, this was possible because Moderna and Pfizer were allowed to run animal trials and had early human trials at the same time instead of completing animal trials first. Parker continues by writing “The best reason to stop using animals in drug tests is the fact that animals don’t respond to drugs the same way people do”, she then points out that “adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease”. Parker believes that we should use other methods to conduct research, such as computer simulations because these methods are already in use and they can predict how a drug will interact with a human body and with the pathogen.

Part 3 – Reflection

Parker provides excellent information on why we need to stop using animals to test pharmaceuticals. I learned from Parker that when the Covid-19 vaccine was being developed, Pfizer and Moderna were allowed to test their vaccine on humans and animals at the same time. Thanks to this we got a vaccine in record time. If scientists were to stop using animals as their first stage of research and instead go to humans, there could be faster advances in medication. I agree with what Parker wrote because we should stop using animals as test subjects. We are different from animals and we are going to react differently to medication than animals do. I found shocking that drug reaction, meaning medication reaction, is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. This is exactly because we humans react differently than animals do because we are not the same. After reading this opinion piece I support the idea of using computer simulations to run research because it is more humane than using animals and also because the computers can predict how the body will react to the medication.

Part 4 – Rhetorical Analysis

Parker’s Primary audience are Pharmaceutical Scientists. Her purpose is to convince scientists to stop using animals in testing. Parker wrote this piece with information that is very effective in making the reader agree with her. The occasion of Parker writing this op-ed is that a handful of bipartisan lawmakers introduced two bills to stop mandatory animal testing. Parker uses her op-ed to persuade people, mainly scientists, that animal testing should end immediately. Parker uses the rhetorical appeal of pathos when she uses phrases such as “one of our nation’s most barbaric practices” or “animal suffering” when she refers to animal testing. She makes the reader feel guilty and feel sorry for what Scientist are doing to the animals. Parker also uses the rhetorical appeal of logos when she gives the reader statistics. Kathleen Parker has a strong credibility because she is a columnist for The Washington Post. The Washington Post has won many awards such as, the Pulitzer prize for public service, the Pulitzer prize for national reporting and the Pulitzer prize for breaking news. In total The Washington Post has won 73 Pulitzer prizes. Parker Kathleen has also won a Pulitzer prize herself. In 2010 she won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

Part 5 – Notable Quotables

“We don’t need to wait so long to develop human therapies if we bypass some of the archaic demands of outdated laws, in particular, a 1930′s-era law that required animal testing before human trials.” (Parker)

“there’s significant evidence that “human subjects have been harmed in the clinical testing of drugs that were deemed safe by animal studies,” as Gail A. Van Norman wrote in the journal JACC: Basic to Translational Science.” (Parker)

“Such tests are already in use and typically involve tests or experiments performed on computers or via computer simulation. This method also is being used in studies that predict how drugs interact with the body and with pathogens.” (Parker)