The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 26, 1991, Page 2, Image 2
AIDS
Rights of the individual have
to give way when health at stake
America has long been at war with itself over the question of
individual rights. Should the individual's right to privacy risk the
safety of society as a whole? In certain cases, the answer is no.
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inuiviuuai ireeaom is a iragne commodity that is always at risk,
even in America. In general, the government's desire to butt into
the individual's business should be curbed. The fad of drug testing
is an unnecessary inconvenience for most workers, and is an example
of ineffectual government intrusion.
Public notification of those infected with the AIDS virus is a
similar situation, with very important exceptions. The average person
infected with AIDS has every right to privacy. No one should
become a pariah for getting a disease.
However, given the nature of the health profession, doctors and
nurses that get infected should be forced to go public with the
disease, or resign from their job. The tragedy suffered by those
who have gotten the disease from a doctor or nurse should not be
repeated. This is not a hysterical pronouncement against those
with AIDS, but an obvious preventative measure for people who
routinely are exposed to the bodily fluids of others.
AIDS patients should not be isolated in "leper" colonies. Those
infected should not have their names brandished in the headlines.
But when a person puts others at risk to a deadly disease through
careless misconduct, they should be punished. For example, infected
people that knowingly have sex with others should be convicted
for assault and battery at least. One right the individual is
not granted in the Constitution is the right to risk peoples' lives.
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Letters Policy: The Gamecock wifl try to print a# letters received. Letters should be. at jj
maximum, 250 to 300 words long. The writer must include full name, professional title if
a USC employee or South Carolina resident, or year and major if a student. An address
and phone number are required with aH letters sent. The Gamecock reserves the right
to edit letters for style, possible Bbei or in case of space limitations. The newspaper will p
not withhold names under any circumstance. e
v..?,
Animal resear
I would like to respond to the letter from Ms.
Goldman for the "Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine" in which she presents an
opposing view as to the necessity for animal research.
She would lead the reader to believe
that most of the current discoveries in medicine
are being made without the use of or need for
animal research. I believe there is little evidence
to support this viewpoint.
Ms. Goldman says that animals are suffering
tremendously and in very large numbers in labs
across the country. A bit later she states that the
vast majority of medical research does not involve
animals at all. Obviously, she cannot
have it both ways. Either animals are heavily
used or they are not.
I take issue with the statement that animals
are "suffering" in laboratories; such would not
meet the Federal, local or professional guidelines
for the use of animals in research. I
addressed this issue in my first letter. It is also
important to note that, under USD A regulations,
animals used in research must be kept in clean
large cages under carefully controlled environmental
conditions. Space for exercise must be
available along with other stringent requirements.
I would argue again that if it is justified
to use animals for any purpose, medical research
is certainly one of the most justifiable
areas.
Ms. Goldman states that many alternatives to
animal use are available and animal testing is
dangerous business. Even thnncrh T nnint^H nut
that licensed prescription drugs in the U.S. must i
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S.C. College STJ,=
1# . , from working
nOl elltlSt professor, th
partially rest
r? editor* many of thesi
I read with interest your op-ed wWp all cm
)iece on the Carolinian Creed in
he June 5 Gamecock with particu- ^ot onjy (
ar attention to your comments on outstanding 1
South Carolina Honors College university, 1
_ many stude:
The Honors College does not otherwise cc
daim to offer a "better" education ma of wh(
han that available to die rest of contributions
JSC s undergraduates, but to offer versity As
t different type of education. Hon- glance at th
>rs courses stress analytical think- ^ l
ng and strong oral and writing ^ , .
kills. Most of the courses include J!
esearch papers and independent s*x ^ crs '
irojects, and all require a high ^Honors C<
svel of class preparation and hard When you
vork students take
One of the most positive aspects courses in
>f the Honors College is its open- courses, you c
iess. You are quite right to assert fIve e ,
tiat entering Freshmen are care- onors c asse?
ully screened to ensure that they ,^s, aJmfm!
ave the academic preparation to *hich
andle the level of work required -fve,a ?? C.
1 SCC. However, you may not be ^ldeals * s
ware that any USC student can nmg counter 1
nter the Honors College upon de- 0 ina 7?
lonstrating the ability to do the f?one of
fork. We actively seek students A
fith a strong level of performance f e 0
, colleg. ?n]l, 3.5 ? MB).
marchess of their SAT scores. ^uc
tt . , Carolina stude
Honors students have no monooly
on USC's "best" teachers; evry
professor who teaches an honrs
course also teaches plenty of Master, Sot
^SlSSl s
ch plays big i
FRANCIS ABEL
Guest Columnist
be tested on animals, she gives as example
drugs that have been tested and not found to b
dangerous, but later turned out to have undesii
able side effects in humans. In fact, animal tesi
ing is only one phase of licensure of a drug, bi
an important phase. In the case of thalidomide
it was not licensed in this country becaus
adequate teratogenic studies (ability to caus
birth defects) had not yet been done in pregnan
animals. Our FDA rightly withheld approval ii
the U.S.
Ms. Goldman fails to note that if a new druj
is developed with an immediate clinical applica
tion in the treatment of individuals with life
threatening diseases, would you arbitrarily giv<
it to a human population without testing on an>
animal species? Would anyone like to volunteei
to be the initial testing group?
If you were pregnant, would you volunteer tc
receive a drug that had received only test-tube
testing? Ms. Goldman misses the entire issue ol
the necessity to do such tests in both animals
and humans before an agent can be used therapeutically.
In some cases, test-tube testing can
be done, but only as a screening device, which
does not take care of looking for side effects ol
the drug, such as teratogenesis.
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jrsity courses. Rather T T O
ting other students Ui^V^ v^I*C
I with an outstanding _
e Honors College is 113. S DUTD
^onsible for keeping ^ r
s fine faculty at USC,
idents have access to To the editor
Professor Jerome J
loes SCC help retain of ,tbe Carolinii
acuity for the entire 'ast s Ietters tt
but it also recruits b[ou8ht out, some'me
nts who might not about lts role ^un
ime to USC - and bis argume,.m ^ ^
om make significant document (mtegnty. d
to the life of this uni- ?ny' rcsPeCt?
a matter of fact, a buf,h of ghttenng gen
le masthead of the fal110 commumcate re
sue containing your 1S sPeciousi
^ out of ** When applied to ev,
is ted are students m vjorj words woul
^eSe- specific meaning, esp
realize that honors community uphold
' over Together they descril
general university w^at js considered d
:an infer what a posi- vjor. 0fteilj such ideal:
ly can have on non- s-s for nnr |aws_ Thev
!* _ , . defined, and subject to
xsr of the committee but not >
Carolinian Creed, I adequate in everyd
rful commitment to making
xesses. Far from nin0
those ideals, South Professor Jewler's a
ege and its students nores ^ ^r(
1 examples of its em- js not same as mea]
ere is nothing elitist limits, or meaningless
nors College, which words allow freedom 1
I the enhancement of limits. On the margin*
al experience for all finitions of these won
;nts* ments, and ultimately i
will arise.
William A. Mould
ith Carolina College We will have to wail
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nedical role
1 Ms. Goldman represents the Physicians Com
mittee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). Less
than 0.5 percent of all doctors are estimated to
be members. On June 27, 1990, the American
Medical Association censured the PCRM,
stating:
"Whereas, the AMA strongly supports the re,s
sponsible use of animals in biomedical research
e which is consistent with and necessary to the
r_ responsible practice of medicine; and"
L_ "Whereas, a recent survey of practicing physlt
icians in the United States conducted by the
AMA reveals that 99 percent agree that animal
g experimentation has contributed to medical
e progress, that 97 percent support the use of anilt
mals for basic research, that 96 percent support
a the use of animals for drug testing and that 93
percent support the use of animals for medical
? education
"Whereas, the name of Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine implies that those
s who disagree with its views are not in favor of
responsible medicine; therefore be it"
f "RESOLVED, that the American Medical
Association register strong objections to the
) PCRM for implying that physicians who support
the use of animals in biomedical research
J are irresponsible, for misrepresenting the critical
t role animals play in research and teaching, and
for obscuring the overwhelming support for
such research which exists among practicing
physicians in the U.S."
Dr. Francis Abel is professor and chairman
of the USC School of Medicine.
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i of conflict to see where the freeea
dom ends and those margins begin.
Then we will discover if Professor
ose Jewler's unique litmus test for an
ethics code ? whether it "persuades"
as well as an advertisement
? has any place in our esS^Cn
tablishing ethical codes, or whether
in Creed in ^stead a community can actually
) the editor agree Up0n, for example, what
resting 1 eas "dignity" means. In the meantime,
iversity. But ^ese words connote broad, but
vo in this 0^ commonly accepted, ideals,
igmty, prop)
"are just a Finally, Professor Jewler's aseralities
that sertion that these words are
al meaning" "merely symbols" is of course
true; all words are symbols. But
the symbol stands for some thing
sryday beha- 0r idea to which a community asd
have quite sents. The symbols he mentions
ecially in a stand for ideals this community
ling them, has asked its members to recognize
be much of ultimately, sustain,
ecent beha5
are the ba- How much better to establish a
are broadly starting point for an ethical cornpersonal
in- munity than to resign ourselves to
'ague or in- the conclusion that because such
ay choice- ideals are not "things" that can
"persuade," we should refuse to
uphold them as unworthy of our
irgument ig- attention. Professor Jewler, in ad>ad
meaning hering to advertising's moral
ninff without codes would rather u/e surrender
ness. These to nihilism. Unlike what the prowithin
those fessor says, the Creed is not meant
s of the de- as a solution, but as a means to
is disagree- one.
those limits,
Pete Mackey
t for the test English graduate student