Walter A. Brown's Opinion piece, "Alternative Medicine: It's Time to Get Smart," (The Scientist, 12[24]:13, Dec. 7, 1998) is timely and balanced. It is wishful thinking to argue that no placebo-controlled clinical studies are needed because herbs and the like have been used for hundreds of years. Those of us who have worked in pharmaceutical R&D for decades have seen too many compounds that were sworn efficacious by both physicians and patients, but could not be shown superior to a placebo.

To a scientist such as myself, who spent 40 years in pharmaceutical research and saw some 20 new drugs reach the market, it is shocking that a physician like Kenneth Stoller (The Scientist, Sept. 5, 1994, page 12) would have any doubts about the need for experimental animals in new drug research and development. Is he saying that he would administer a new drug to a human with no preclinical experience in animals? To himself, his family, his patients? Would he give a new drug to a human that sho

A follow-on comment to the recent correspondence regarding scientists on corporate boards (R. Finn, The Scientist, Jan. 10, 1994, page 21; I.S. Johnson, The Scientist, May 2, 1994, page 13) is in order. Further to the excellent comments of Johnson, it should be pointed out that serving on boards of directors for young companies is not without potential personal financial exposure as a result of the frequent legal action directed ag

A follow-on comment to the recent correspondence regarding scientists on corporate boards (R. Finn, The Scientist, Jan. 10, 1994, page 21; I.S. Johnson, The Scientist, May 2, 1994, page 13) is in order. Further to the excellent comments of Johnson, it should be pointed out that serving on boards of directors for young companies is not without potential personal financial exposure as a result of the frequent legal action directed ag