The report on the effects of the anti-depressant Seroxat on a Brighton woman (The Argus, June 13) raises serious questions which need to be answered by the drug's manufacturer.

Before being trialled on human beings, this drug will have been "safety" tested on laboratory animals.

The chances of serious side effects such as a likelihood to commit suicide will not have been possible to predict in animals.

Animals in a stressed laboratory environment will never provide suitable models for human diseases and illnesses, whether medical or psychologically based.

If we want medicine and treatments that avoid such heartbreaking and unnecessary side effects on our health, consider giving funds to cash-starved, animal-free research such as that provided by the Humane Research Trust and the Lord Dowding Fund, among others.

The tragedy of vivisection and its waste of animal life is harming human health through the release of drugs on to the market whose side effects can never be uncovered by inaccurate animal research.

The army of well-meaning fundraisers on fun runs and cycle rides can provide animal-free research charities with vital funds for treatments for such diseases as cancer and diabetes with a clear conscience.

How good it feels to know money sent to such charities supports the end of the disgrace of vivisection and helps to advance scientifically sound cures for today's killer diseases.

-A Moynihan (Ms) associate member Doctors and Lawyers for Responsible Medicine, Slate Terrace, Mayfield