PCRM Files Complaint Against Connecticut Hospital

On Thursday, nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a criminal complaint against Connecticut’s Hartford Hospital, alleging that its use of live pigs in trauma training violates the state’s animal-cruelty statute. After discovering that the hospital cuts anesthetized pigs to teach emergency medical protocol and then euthanizes them, the organization filed a legal complaint with the state attorney, urging officials to investigate this element of the curriculum. PCRM points out that 98 percent of Advanced Trauma Life Support training programs use non-animal simulations. Because Hartford Hospital reportedly already owns one such simulator, the organization argues that the facility should replace their current teaching method with a more humane approach.