Research halted at UConn neuro lab

David Waitzman, a neurologist and clinician at the University of Connecticut Health Center, voluntarily ceased research on rhesus macaques last October in response to nearly a dozen citations from the United States Department of Agriculture regarding procedures administered to the monkeys. The news was made public by the University of Connecticut last month."This was blown way out of proportion in comparison to what we're doing," Waitzman, who has worked with primates for medical research for 25 years, told The Scientist. "I don't think the [monkeys] could be taken care of by any one better qualified than myself."The citations, which occurred between November 2005 and August of last year, focused on unapproved drug injections given to a monkey and inadequate research into alternatives to animal testing. Each citation for non-compliance with USDA regulations on animal care involved a procedure that had been previously approved by the UConn animal care...