Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: Twitter and Tesla owner Elon Musk’s medical device company Neuralink is facing a probe for alleged animal-welfare violations during animal tests which often cause suffering and deaths.
According to documents and sources familiar with the probe, Neuralink Corp is developing a brain implant to help paralyzed people walk again and cure other neurological illnesses.
Probe against violations
The US Department of Agriculture opened the probe at the request of a US federal prosecutor. The investigation focuses on violations of the US Animal Welfare Act, which governs how researchers treat and test animals.
The federal probe comes at a time amidst growing staff dissent about Neuralink’s animal testing, including complaints that pressure from Musk to accelerate development has resulted in botched experiments, Reuters said after reviewing dozens of documents related to Neuralink and interviews with over 20 current and former employees of the medical company.
The employees alleged that such repeated and failed tests had to be done on several animals for tests, leading to their deaths.
No comments from Elon Musk
Elon Musk and other Neuralink top executives did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.
US regulations do not specifically say how many animals companies could use for research, giving substantial leeway to scientists to determine when and how to use animals in experiments. Neuralink has passed all USDA inspections of its facilities, regulatory filings show.
