Constitutional Law

Judge: N.Y. must release records on monkey research

By By The Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. ? A state trial judge has ruled that New York must release records on substance-abuse experiments on monkeys and other animals.

The state's Office of Mental Health tried to block the Freedom of Information Act request from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, saying research scientists may be targeted by animal-rights terrorists.

In a ruling dated Nov. 3, state Supreme Court Justice Richard Platkin rejected the state's argument.

PCRM wants records on taxpayer-funded research at a state psychiatric institute in New York City. OMH provided some records but not all. Many of the experiments conditioned rhesus monkeys to have drug and alcohol addictions, then tested if medications broke the addictions.

Spokeswoman Jill Daniels said OMH had not decided if it would appeal.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on November 14, 2010 (boomark / email).