{"id":771199,"date":"2023-01-02T08:48:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T13:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=771199"},"modified":"2023-01-02T09:10:44","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T14:10:44","slug":"nih-gave-millions-to-animal-experimenters-in-colombia-accused-of-vax-development-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=771199","title":{"rendered":"NIH gave millions to research lab in Colombia accused of animal welfare violations while running drug development scam"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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The NIH sent around $17 million to a consortium of Colombian companies accused of developing a questionable malaria vaccine tested on owl monkeys held in squalor.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

CAITLIN DOORNBOS:<\/strong> The National Institutes of Health [NIH] sent around $17 million to a consortium of Colombian companies accused of developing a \u201cquestionable\u201d malaria vaccine tested on owl monkeys held in squalor…<\/em><\/p>\n

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals launched an investigation into the companies after a whistleblower passed along images of the disheveled primates used in NIH-funded experiments based on \u201cshoddy science and manipulation of data,\u201d according to the animal rights group.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears to be a huge scam, if I\u2019m honest,\u201d PETA laboratory investigations lead Magnolia Martinez told The Post. \u201cAmerican taxpayers are being scammed into paying for a malaria vaccine that doesn\u2019t exist \u2013 and it will never be produced by using monkeys”…<\/em><\/p>\n

Martinez said her interviews with 11 former and current employees raised questions about the studies\u2019 integrity. \u201cThey have published clinical trials where they supposedly have proof,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, based on the testimonies from insiders, we are not sure that they are actually doing what they\u2019re saying they\u2019re doing”…<\/em><\/p>\n

Socrates Herrera, who owns the companies with wife Myriam Arevalo-Hererra, denied the allegations in an email to the Post on Thursday, charging that PETA\u2019s claims are \u201cbased on false accusations and documents put out of context”…<\/em><\/p>\n

Herrera\u2019s companies \u2013 Caucaseco Scientific Research Center and the Malaria Vaccine and Drug Development Center and the FUCEP primate center in Cali, Colombia \u2013 have collaborative agreements with the NIH\u2019s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, formerly headed by President Biden\u2019s chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, but operate with little to no oversight.<\/em><\/p>\n

While any US organization that uses animals for testing must be inspected annually and report any animal welfare violations to receive NIH funding, that rule does not apply overseas, Martinez said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey are being funded by American money, but they don\u2019t have to meet any of the American laws and no one cares,\u201d she said. \u201cFor fiscal year 2022, around 700 [NIH] grants were awarded to foreign institutions. Just imagine \u2013 we\u2019re talking about more than $200 million with no oversight at all. That\u2019s absurd”…<\/em><\/p>\n

An inspection last year by Corporaci\u00f3n Autonoma Regional del Valle del Cauca, the regional environmental authority, found multiple animal welfare violations in the consortium\u2019s primate research center, FUCEP. At the time, the facility consisted of a chain-link fence with construction mesh used for walls and a roof, according to the official report.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no holes that allow the entry of UV rays and no windows that allow airflow,\u201d the inspector\u2019s report said. \u201cThe presence of food remains in the [water bowls], presence of high humidity in the enclosures [and] fungi demonstrate unsuitable sanitary conditions for the possession of primates.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The authority also found that there were \u201cinappropriate densities\u201d of groups of monkeys held in 2.6-foot cages, which were caked with feces and rust…<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBased on a short visual inspection, [inspectors] concluded that there was animal abuse and malnutrition,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThese claims are based on superficial inspection without animal examination, animal-records analyses and laboratory tests.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The investigation also found that the facility did not keep medical records on the 127 owl monkeys and six squirrel monkeys at the facility. Further, no veterinarian was kept on staff, nor were there \u201cendpoint protocol that determines the moment in which the animal must be withdrawn from the tests carried out”…<\/em><\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s investigation also uncovered disturbing allegations of false reports to the NIH and other agencies to keep funding flowing… In two of Herrera\u2019s current NIAID grant applications, he stated that FUCEP and Caucaseco keep monkeys under the \u201ccare and welfare \u2026 [of] a veterinarian and trained technicians and are regulated according to the stipulations of the international guidelines\u201d including the NIH\u2019s Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals \u2013 a claim that runs contrary to the November 2021 inspection.<\/em><\/p>\n

Further, Martinez said she has obtained contracts from whistleblowers that suggest Herrera\u2019s employees were paid significantly less than those reported in grant applications…<\/em><\/p>\n

PETA senior vice president Kathy Guillermo said the US government should take action against Herrera\u2019s consortium in light of the whistleblowers\u2019 accusations and other revelations from Martinez\u2019s investigation.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNIH needs to cut off the money spigot to Caucaseco immediately and demand a return of all funds \u2013 and all scientific papers from this source and the MVDC should be immediately retracted,\u201d she said. \u201cCongress should then suspend NIH\u2019s funds for foreign research organizations, since the agency is asleep at the wheel and can\u2019t be trusted”. SOURCE…<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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