it is arrogant of Thomas Bromley (Letters, January 30) to presume those of us against animals in medical research are healthy, with only emotive justification for our views.

We have our share of life-threatening illnesses too but have chosen to question the propaganda meted out by pharmaceutical companies and others with vested interests in our ill health.

Animal experimentation is big business. Many of us are alive not because of animal testing but in spite of it.

Each year, tens of thousands of people become sick from legal drugs and many of them die. Thalidomide is the best known of the countless false negatives in animal tests.

False positives are drugs that bring about adverse reactions in animal studies and are withheld from development but are later found to be beneficial in humans.

Digitalis, used to treat heart disorders, was discovered without animal use. However, clinical trials of the drug were delayed when it caused high blood pressure in animals.

Digoxin, an analogue of digitalis, was much later released and has saved countless lives. It could have saved many more if it had not been for animal experiments.

Animal testing is misleading scientific fraud and delays cures for many major illnesses.

Anyone interested in the debate should read Sacred Cows And Golden Geese: The Human Cost Of Experiments On Animals by C Ray Greek and J Swingle Greek, members of the medical and veterinary profession who dared challenge the myth that animal experiments are a necessary evil.

-Sam Rillim, Lorna Road, Brighton