Lawsuit filed against New York medical school for refusing to release animal research records
CURRENT STATUS: Petition filed in New York state court
February 23, 2024
Animal Partisan has filed a lawsuit against SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, a public medical school in Brooklyn, New York, over the denial of access to public records involving animal research. Animal Partisan is represented pro bono in the suit by the law firm of Seagal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney.
SUNY Downstate operates a significant animal research program and houses hundreds of animals, including primates such as rhesus and crab eating macaques as well as scores of Seba’s short-tailed bats. In 2023, the National Institutes of Health funded over $25 million in research at SUNY Downstate, including scores of projects involving the use of animals. These studies include analyzing head injuries in mice and studying the brains of fruit bats.
In July 2023, Animal Partisan submitted a request to SUNY Downstate under New York’s Freedom of Information Law requesting records associated with a USDA inspection into the medical school’s animal research program. The inspection revealed several violations of federal animal welfare law associated with one particular research study. These violations included completing a “major operative procedure” on a non-human primate without properly acclimating the animal to the chair restraint, failing to properly train personnel on surgical procedures, and failing to notify funders that the research study had previously been suspended. Animal Partisan’s request sought internal communications, communications with USDA, records related to the school’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and communications with the National Institutes of Health.
But instead of complying with New York’s Freedom of Information Law, SUNY Downstate decided to withhold these records and ignore Animal Partisan’s request for records, not once, but on four separate occasions. The lawsuit alleges that SUNY Downstate has violated the law and asks the court to force the medical school to release the records and reimburse costs associated with the lawsuit.
New York’s Freedom of Information Law states that:
“The people's right to know the process of governmental decision-making and to review the documents and statistics leading to determinations is basic to our society. Access to such information should not be thwarted by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.” NY CLS Pub O § 84
Regrettably, SUNY Downstate has elected to cloak its animal research program in secrecy, even if it means violating the law. This is not the first time SUNY Downstate’s animal research program has faced scrutiny over violations. In previous years, SUNY Downstate has been cited by the USDA for a range of issues with its animal research program, including alopecia in bats, unsanitary conditions near bat cages, failures in reporting and monitoring animal welfare issues, and the use of outdated drugs.
The lawsuit comes in the wake of news that a hospital associated with the medical school will likely close due to a $100 million budget deficit. The closure of the hospital, which is said to be in “severe disrepair,” threatens the jobs of hundreds of union members.
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