Evaluation of authorised experiments on laboratory animals with regard to the following frame of reference: The aim of the research to be carried out, its scientific usefulness and its medical relevance.

As a follow-up to our recent study about the suffering of laboratory animal s in experiments, we investigated if results obtained from animal experimen ts performed in accordance with the German animal welfare act were publishe d, and if these led to consequences in the medical field, especially in pub lished medical literature. According to the German animal welfare act anima l experiments must be applied for at a local ethics committee which approve s these experiments. All applications (51) made between 1991 and 1993 were examined in co-operation with some of the authors and the authorities. The follow-up procedures were split into two parts: First the declared aims of the proposals were evaluated against the applicants' own arguments with regard to the pain suffered by the animals. Secondly, it was evaluated if these proposals led to relevant publications in the scientific literature a nd if these results led to improvements in respective fields of research. A ranking was established from zero (no results were published within 8 yea rs) to three (all the proposed goals were effectively reached and published ). Only one third of the proposals reached grade three, and in nearly 40% o f the proposals either no relevant publications were found or these proposa ls were never realised.