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Ethical Challenges for Animals from Traditional and Complementary Medicine

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Book cover Traditional and Complementary Medicines: Are they Ethical for Humans, Animals and the Environment?

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Philosophy ((BRIEFSPHILOSOPH))

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Abstract

Humans use and abuse animals for many purposes, including the production and testing of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) products. While some animals may benefit from T&CM interventions, many more suffer harm. In both animal experimentation and for the production of T&CM products, animals can be exposed to stress, pain, artificially induced diseases and/or ultimately killed. However, the use of animals in T&CM products (for example, oil extracted from the blubber of the River Dolphin or the intestines of a porcupine) is more ethically challenging than the use of animals in T&CM research. First, research is better regulated. Second, animals used in research are often bred for purpose whereas most of the animals used for T&CM products are taken from the wild in an unregulated manner and many are endangered species such as rhinos, and tigers. Ethical challenges for the use of animals in T&CM products are analysed together with potential for adoption of the same ethical principles that govern animal experimentation (replacement, reduction, refinement).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A cell line is a population of cells descended from a single cell and containing the same genetic makeup. The cells are reproduced in the laboratory.

  2. 2.

    Stearates are commonly used in the production of medicines as a lubricant. It prevents the ingredients from sticking to the manufacturing equipment.

  3. 3.

    Foetal bovine serum is the most widely used growth supplement for cell cultures.

  4. 4.

    The search precluded any publications not written in English.

  5. 5.

    This also involves a weighing of harms and benefits; the potential benefits of the research must outweigh the potential for harm to the animals.

  6. 6.

    In certain situations, this decision might be complicated. Consider, for example, the choice between use of an animal by-product from local livestock that would otherwise be discarded, and an endangered plant species that only grows in a treacherous domain.

  7. 7.

    For instance, killing of a nursing mother would obviously impact upon her infants. More broadly, killing certain animals, even if not endangered, may have broad impacts upon the sustainability of their community.

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  1. Centre for Professional Ethics, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK

    Kate Chatfield

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  1. Kate Chatfield
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Correspondence to Kate Chatfield .

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Chatfield, K. (2018). Ethical Challenges for Animals from Traditional and Complementary Medicine. In: Traditional and Complementary Medicines: Are they Ethical for Humans, Animals and the Environment?. SpringerBriefs in Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05300-0_5

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