Over at The Huffington Post, Simon Chaitowitz has written a very moving and heartfelt piece called “Why I Take Animal-Tested Drugs.” It’s an amazing read. Chaitowitz has leukemia, and this article is her feelings about the treatment and pills, which have been tested on animals. Here’s an excerpt:

I wonder if science would have found a cure for my leukemia by now if they weren’t sidetracked by misleading animal tests. I wonder if the chemo that I took for breast cancer would have been safer if it hadn’t been tested in species that are so unlike our own.

The truth is that using animals to develop and test drugs is a system that doesn’t work very well. It’s an old paradigm, one that is fortunately beginning to change, however slowly. A growing number of scientists are developing some exciting (and more effective) non-animal alternatives. These changes have been inspired partly by concern over animal cruelty but also because animal research and testing have so often failed us. Some government agencies are even starting to call for more alternatives.

Please read this piece. It’s worth it.