THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 22, 1995 TAG: 9502220015
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
The Feb. 2 letter from Carla Bennett of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) contained untrue statements about treatment of horses in making the drug Premarin. The horses are not kept in stalls measuring 3 1/2- to 5-feet wide by 8 feet long but, rather, in stalls large enough to move about and lie down comfortably. They are not kept confined for six months but are taken out for regular exercise. They are not separated from their foals at birth but are kept together for a period of several months until the normal weaning time.
A recent USDA inspection of ranches involved in the production of Premarin found ``the allegations of abuse and inhumane treatment (put forward by animal activists) to be unfounded'' (June 24, 1994). Dr. Shauna Spurlock, a prominent equine veterinarian, who recently inspected a number of contracted farms throughout Canada and North Dakota, was favorably impressed and found no evidence to support the allegations made by animal activists.
Premarin is the estrogen about which we have the greatest amount of scientific information. It has been used and studied for more then 40 years and is the estrogen used in 85 percent of the studies of estrogen in the past five years, including the recently published P.E.P.I. (Journal of the American Medical Association 1995; 273: 199-208).
There are no published scientific studies of the ``plant-derived estrogen drugs,'' and they have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
WILLIAM C. ANDREWS, M.D.
Norfolk, Feb. 13, 1995 by CNB