PORTLAND, OR – In the wake of a recently-obtained federal report that reveals the latest in a long string of animal deaths and injuries at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) which violate federal law, a national watchdog group is calling for the maximum federal penalty against the Portland laboratory.
SAEN, an Ohio-based national watchdog that monitors the nation's research facilities for illegal activities and animal abuse, said a federal inspection report dated Feb. 2 of this year discloses an incident in which an adolescent monkey became trapped behind cages and died, unnoticed by OHSU staff. The same report also discloses an injury to another monkey that resulted in tail amputation.
The latest report follows a Feb. 14, 2017 inspection report that documented the death of a diabetic monkey because the monkey was negligently injected with an correct and deadly dose of insulin.
The report also noted a bone fracture in a baboon whose hand was crushed by a guillotine door. OHSU was also cited for two improperly performed experiments in the same report.
SAEN has also discovered a previously undisclosed primate death due to a spinal injury connected to an escape in late 2015.
The two most recent inspections follow U.S. Dept. of Agriculture “Official Warnings” which hit OHSU in both 2016 and 2014. Now, SAEN is urging the USDA to launch a prosecution of OHSU, and issue the maximum penalty of $10,000 per infraction/per animal.
SAEN has successfully pressured government regulators into levying six figure penalties against several other primate laboratories, including University of Louisiana ($100,000 - May 2017) and Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratory ($185,000 - December, 2016).
"Federal action against OHSU is long overdue," said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., Executive Director, SAEN. "How many more monkeys must be injured or killed before the USDA prosecutes this serial offender?"
USDA reports and SAEN Official Complaints are available at: http://www.saenonline.org/media-Oregon-Health-Science-University-Complaint-3-14-18.html
