{"id":59892,"date":"2018-11-13T16:35:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T16:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/13\/va-reverses-stance-on-canine-medical-testing-now-plans-for-more-experiments\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:14:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:14:21","slug":"va-reverses-stance-on-canine-medical-testing-now-plans-for-more-experiments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2018\/11\/13\/va-reverses-stance-on-canine-medical-testing-now-plans-for-more-experiments\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite objections, VA secretary backs continuing canine medical testing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i><b>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect additional information provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. <\/b><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie is publicly backing the value of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2017\/08\/27\/animal-testing-debate-pits-injured-veterans-against-dogs\/\" target=\"_blank\">canine medical testing<\/a> at his department, saying the practice could provide potential breakthroughs in treatments for spinal cord injuries and other challenges facing veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have an opportunity to change the lives of men and women who have been terribly hurt,\u201d Wilkie said in comments <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/11\/09\/va-secretary-expects-fy-2020-budget-to-be-the-biggest-ever\/\" target=_blank>at the National Press Club last week<\/a>. \u201cAnd until somebody tells me that research does not help in that outcome, then I will continue it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just eight months ago, then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/03\/13\/va-promises-full-review-of-all-canine-medical-testing-with-a-goal-of-ending-the-practice\/\" target=\"_blank\">VA Secretary David Shulkin<\/a> ordered a review of all medical experiments involving dogs with the goal of phasing them out. Shulkin was fired by President Donald Trump just a few weeks later.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/03\/13\/va-promises-full-review-of-all-canine-medical-testing-with-a-goal-of-ending-the-practice\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4068143.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA promises full review of all medical testing on dogs, with a goal of ending the practice<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The move reverses VA&#039;s strong stance last year defending the medical testing on dogs as necessary and justified.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issue of the dog experiments resurfaced this month <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2018\/11\/01\/veterans-affairs-fatal-dog-research-paralysis\/1826889002\/\">after a USA Today report<\/a> found VA facilities moving ahead with the medical research, potentially in violation of federal law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, as part of appropriations legislation, Congress mandated that the VA secretary personally approve all such experiments and publicly verify that \u201cthe scientific objectives of the study can only be met by research with canines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shulkin has said publicly he did not approve any additional projects. VA officials dispute that, saying he re-authorized nine series of experiments on the day he was fired, with several senior officials present. Current department leaders and Shulkin have sparred over the status of several last-minute actions Shulkin took (or is said to have taken) in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie deflected questions on the legality of those moves but emphasized he supports the research moving ahead. Six current medical experiments with canines are active today, all held over from previous years of work. No new projects have been started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe research is conducted under strict supervision,\u201d he said. \u201cI would not do anything that would fail to help veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy charge is to make life easier for those who have borne the battle. There is nothing more tragic to me in 2018 at this stage in the development of medical science that we have not been able to find that cure to address spinal cord injuries and paralysis. I&#8217;m going to do everything ethical to make sure our veterans come first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Critics of the testing say those potential medical benefits are exaggerated, and the VA\u2019s insistence on using the experiments runs contrary to prevailing wisdom in the health care community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s shameful to see that Sec. Wilkie, who was brought in to clean up VA, is doubling down on this wasteful policy,\u201d said Justin Goodman, vice president of public policy for the White Coat Waste Project. \u201cVA has had 18 months to produce some evidence that this is providing new breakthroughs, and they have failed to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several veterans groups have changed their stance on the issue in recent years as well. Paralyzed Veterans of America, once a strong supporter of the practice, told USA Today that they no longer oppose plans to end the research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SGillums\/status\/1061629346027311104\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/SGillums\/status\/1061629346027311104<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wilkie defended the practice as necessary research to help veterans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,93,12,25,68,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3334],"class_list":["post-59892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"AVPGVPLHTJHXXINT7H3SPHPUDI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/11\/13\/va-reverses-stance-on-canine-medical-testing-now-plans-for-more-experiments\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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