As the U.S. government reviews, trims, and freezes funding for so-called “scientific research”, the animal research industry is scrambling to defend its billions – and it’s lying all the way to the bank.
Make no mistake: behind the industry’s classic smoke-and-mirrors is a ruthless fight to preserve its power, profit, and self-professed “right” to harm others for its own gain.
Here are the latest lies the industry is telling – and what’s really going on:
LIE #1: Biopharma is not advocating for itself.
We’re being told that entities testifying before Congress are neutral and independent of the for-profit biomedical machine. Take, for example, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Its CEO recently testified, hand-wringing over the “‘paralysis’” of U.S. science. Media outlets obediently parroted the story, painting AAAS as a dispassionate voice for science – not a player in biopharma’s billion-dollar empire.
One article even claimed that AAAS isn’t part of the “biopharma industry, which benefits from government funded biomedical research.”
In truth, however, AAAS is neck-deep in biopharma’s pockets.
The NIH alone has been AAAS’ single “‘largest identifiable source of funding’”, and, between 2004 and 2018, the U.S. government funneled more than $27 million to AAAS (mostly via NIH contracts). And that’s just the government piece of the pie.
AAAS cozies up to biotech and pharma giants through research partnerships and corporate sponsorships. Its CEO (the very same who just testified before Congress) came straight from senior roles in drug and life-sciences firms – including Battelle, a biomedical R&D giant – and sits on the boards of advocacy groups heavily backed by biopharma interests. And AAAS’ Board of Directors itself? It’s loaded with biomedical scientists, nearly all with connections to large research universities running massive animal research programs.
Moreover, AAAS explicitly endorses animal experimentation in official statements, is an organizational member of AAALAC (appointing delegates to help oversee and accredit animal research facilities), pumps out pro-animal research propaganda (including through its flagship journal, Science), smears animal rights activists as “extremists” while lionizing researchers who champion animal experimentation, and directly lobbies for animal research, blocking legislative reforms and defending NIH’s bloated animal research budget at every turn.
→ CORRECTION: Biopharma is absolutely advocating for itself, including through well-funded mouthpieces like AAAS.
LIE #2: NIH funding has been gutted.
Yes, reports indicate that NIH grants are down $2.3 billion from earlier this year. But, here’s the context the industry doesn’t want you to see: the NIH’s total budget still hovers around a staggering $50 billion – meaning more than 95% of the agency’s budget remains intact.
That’s not gutting. That’s a tiny dent in the ever-ballooning budget of an agency that has long spent half of its money – tens of billions of dollars annually – on animal experiments.
→ CORRECTION: Less than 5% of the NIH’s budget has been impacted.
LIE #3: Funding cuts will kill human cures.
This is the industry’s favorite scare tactic: Cut our funding, and you’ll never see cures for Alzheimer’s, diabetes, childhood cancer, or muscular dystrophy.
But, let’s get real: These “cures” have been dangled in front of us for decades, even as funding kept climbing. Where are they? Still out of reach, apparently.
And, the real kicker? By and large, the current NIH cuts aren’t slashing clinical (human) trials or applied research aimed at human treatments. Rather, the deepest cuts are falling on basic research into fundamental biology – the same kind of research that claims a future human application only 2% of the time, leads to a clinical (human) trial only 0.4% of the time, and helps produce a treatment actually useful to humans only 0.004% of the time.
→ CORRECTION: Decades of soaring funding have not delivered the cures we’ve been promised, while billions have been wasted chasing (and re-chasing, and re-chasing) dead ends.
LIE #4: The federal government is sabotaging science.
That’s the spin, but, in actuality, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made it crystal clear that this isn’t random slashing – it’s a “‘strategic realignment’” designed to prioritize“‘high-impact, high-urgency science over auto-piloted funding partners’”. In HHS’ own words:
‘NIH is not in the business of writing blank checks. We’re making sure every dollar supports research that delivers real value to the American people. The biomedical research enterprise is being refocused and that’s what will keep America at the forefront of global science, safety, and innovation.’
Translation? The NIH is (finally) questioning its endless rubber-stamping of the same exploitative animal experiments that have wasted time and money while sacrificing ethics. To the animal research industry, this might feel like “sabotage”, but, to the rest of us, it’s long overdue common sense.
→ CORRECTION: The federal government is (at last) pulling off auto-pilot and aiming to invest in high-impact science.
So, here’s what’s really going on:
- AAAS and its allies are absolutely representing and lobbying for the animal research status quo.
- NIH funding remains astronomical – and devastatingly wasteful and unethical.
- Decades of basic research has failed to deliver cures we’ve been promised over and over again.
- The government is (finally) starting to challenge the scientific establishment’s entitlement to endless taxpayer cash.
The animal research industry is counting on public trust, political pressure, and tired lies to keep its profit margins intact. We can’t let that happen.
Let’s cut through the deception – and help others do the same.
Your call to action: Expose the truth. The more people who know the truth, the less power the animal research industry holds. Share this blog to expose the lies — and help more people see through the smoke. Click the links below or copy, paste, and share this link anywhere: riseforanimals.org/news/bold-lies