Columbia U. Loses Animal Research Aid

For the second time in recent months, the Reagan Administration has suspended federal funding for research at a university because of allegations that the animals in the experiments are not adequately cared for, The Times learned Friday.

At the same time, Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment said in a major study that too many live animals are being used in medical and scientific experiments, given the effective alternatives available.

All federal funds to Columbia University’s animal research projects have been suspended in the wake of a surprise government investigation that found the school in violation of animal research guidelines, a spokeswoman for the university announced.

Funds Cut Off

The New York institution is the first to have federal funds withheld under new National Institutes of Health guidelines that went into effect Jan. 1. Studies involving research on AIDS, infertility, Down’s syndrome and cystic fibrosis are among those expected to be affected by the cutoff.

“Columbia University has been informed by the National Institutes of Health that approval of federally funded animal research in the health sciences division is now restricted,” said a statement by Dean Henrik Bendixen of the university’s medical school.

“Approval of vertebrate research above the level of rodents has been withdrawn until the university corrects deficiencies identified by an evaluation committee during a visit to the health sciences animal care facilities on Jan. 23 and 24,” the statement said.

The new guidelines require all applicants for National Institutes of Health funding to submit assurances that they comply with provisions “for the operation of animal care committees and that all personnel involved with animals have available to them training in the humane practice of animal maintenance and experimentation.”

Spot Checks

The guidelines also allow National Institutes of Health inspectors to conduct spot checks of animal research facilities and allow them to halt funding immediately if the institution is in violation.

University development officers are scrambling to determine how much the funding cut will cost. In 1984, Columbia used at least 36,925 animals in 270 experiments that had a total federal budget of roughly $75 million.

Last July, former Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret M. Heckler ordered funding suspended and research halted at the University of Pennsylvania’s Head Injury Clinic after an animal rights group staged a four-day sit-in at NIH to protest the care of the clinic’s research primates.

The Office of Technology Assessment found that a minimum of 17 million to 22 million animals, the majority of them rats and mice, are used annually in scientific experiments in the United States--a far smaller figure than the previous estimates of more than 70 million.

Nonetheless, the report said, “a reduction in the numbers of animals used, and a refinement in how animals are used, is indeed possible.” However, it found also that “fully replacing animal use with non-animal methods, especially in the short term, is not likely,” project director Gary Ellis said at a news conference.

Spokesmen for animal rights groups have conceded that the figure is far smaller than their estimates and is probably correct, Ellis said.

A congressional source said “laxity” at the National Institutes of Health is responsible for the fact that fewer than 500 institutions submitted letters of compliance by the Jan. 1 deadline.