Animal Care Program: Use of Non-pharmaceutical grade compounds
OLAW and USDA consider that the use of non-pharmaceutical grade compounds should be based on:
- scientific necessity;
- no availability of an acceptable veterinary or human pharmaceutical-grade compound; and
- specific review and approval by the IACUC.
Investigators and IACUCs should consider relevant animal welfare and scientific issues including safety, efficacy, and the inadvertent introduction of new variables. Cost savings alone do not adequately justify the use of non-pharmaceutical-grade compounds in animals. Although the potential animal welfare consequences of complications are less evident in non-survival studies, the scientific issues remain the same and the principles and need for professional judgment outlined above still apply.
Updated February 9, 2007 by SAK