Airlines accused of discrimination for banning lab monkeys

A deadline is approaching in the fight by researchers to fly their monkeys on airplanes. On one side are some of the world’s biggest airlines, while on the other are prominent drug companies like Pfizer and universities including Harvard. In a complaint filed with the US govt, Washington-based non-profit the National Association for Biomedical Research accuses British Airways, Qatar Airways, China Southern and United Airlines of illegally refusing to transport lab animals such as the non-human primates used in live research trials. The US DoT set a Dec 6 deadline for public comments, and so far has received more than 20,000 submissions. “The number of air carriers willing to carry research animals has dwindled to the point that biomedical research around the world is quite frankly running out of options,” the NABR said. <br/>