This is nothing less than a crying shame. What is wrong with people?? Thank goodness the clinic recognized the atrocity of this situation. Let's hope they take drastic action against this individual.
Jeanne
CLEVELAND - A neurosurgeon used a dog with an induced brain aneurysm to demonstrate a medical device to salespeople, a hospital said Thursday.
The dog was anesthetized during the demonstration and euthanized afterward, according to a statement released by the Cleveland Clinic, a renowned academic medical center.
The hospital uses animals for medical research but this demonstration was unauthorized, a hospital statement said. The clinic has reported the incident to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates animal testing.
"As an academic medical center, Cleveland Clinic does not allow procedures with animals for the sole purpose of sales training," the statement said
The surgeon, who was not immediately identified, was presenting a device used to treat aneurysms Wednesday to a group of people who sell it, the statement read.
It was not clear Thursday whether the aneurysm was induced in the dog solely for the sales demonstration. An aneurysm is when arteries or blood vessels bulge and eventually burst, which can cause severe damage or death.
Messages left with the USDA late Thursday were not immediately returned.
The clinic said the surgeon did not have permission from the hospital's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee to host the demonstration. The doctor submitted an application to the committee, but its members never reviewed it, the hospital said.
An internal investigation was under way and the clinic plans to provide training for doctors to prevent a similar incident in the future, the hospital's statement said.
