Thomas Bromley (Opinion, February 10) states no prescription drug has been developed without animal research.

He is right, because legislation insists all new drugs are tested as such. It is a hit-and-miss science.

Many drugs are misinterpreted through animal tests, including insulin, thalidomide and penicillin.

If aspirin were discovered today, it would never be used on humans because of its toxicity to animals.

We cannot ignore developments from past animal research but in the future we must concentrate on alternatives or we will continue to be the guinea pigs suffering unpredicted side effects in this pharmaceutical lottery.

-Miss Zoe Chambers, Waterloo Street, Hove