Report back from campaigners attending Tipu Aziz' Cheltenham DBS talk 8th June

Friday 8th June saw campaigners attend a Tipu Aziz talk on Deep Brian Stimulation at the Cheltenham Science Festival. Pure science placards were placed outside the entrance to the Town hall, and hundreds of leaflets written by leading Parkinson's research scientist, Dr Claude Reiss PhD, were distributed to members of the public who were either attending the Festival, or just passing by.

On entering the building, campaigners were searched as they approached the entrance to the lecture room. All leaflets were also taken off campaigners before they entered the room. It was clear by this point that Colin Blakemore's sponsor, the MRC, wanted to limit the public's access to a very high standard of medical science, as demonstrated by the supporting 8 international medical organisations which were included on the leaflet.

At this point, it was decided that one campaigner should try to address the room, before the talk began. Sitting quietly in the front row, she waited for the room to fill and for people to settle in their seats before standing up to deliver her prepared statement. The room fell quiet as all present listened to the potential of science being represented by Dr Claude Reiss. She was even handed a microphone by someone who thought she was part of the event!

It didn't take long, however, for the MRC representative to run up to her in a panic stricken voice, saying "We don't want this, we don't want this!" The campaigner was lifted up by a member of security and bundled unceremoniously out of the room, whilst she informed everyone that leaflets were being distributed outside the building as all eyes gazed in astonishment at this important scientific view being stifled. A campaigner who attempted to intervene was told by an undercover police officer to "shut the f**k up".

The rest of the team stayed put and endured the usual uninspired lack from Aziz; although this time he omitted any reference to his primate victim Felix, incarcerated at Oxford University. Instead, Aziz spoke for just 10 minutes describing how Deep Brain Stimulation works in human patients. Martin Westall then took to the stage and gave a moving account of how his wife and daughter's lives were transformed by this treatment, pioneered through human surgery, and which, according to SPEAK's medical experts, relies, not a jot, on any aspect of another species for its development.

The talk was then thrown out to the room for questions from the audience.

Luckily, two of our team were picked to ask questions, which were pre prepared, and based on Dr Reiss' science. Here are the questions, with Aziz' responses following on. Many thanks to Dr Dan Lyons, at Uncaged, for helping to draft question 2.

Q1 "The Oxford Student, 21st Jan 2007, contained an article in which you state: "I was central to discovering the Subthalamic nucleus as a target for Deep Brain Stimulation". However, according to neurosurgeon Dr Marius Maxwell, the first paper published on the role of the STN did not involve you at all, but Bergman, Wichmann, DeLong. Science 249 (4979) 1436-8,1990 Sep 21.

Here is what the author of our leaflet, Dr Claude Reiss, has to say about this area: "Although it is true that the application of Deep Brain Stimulation to the subthalamic nucleus has been suggested by experiments in MPTP monkeys, the application of Deep Brain Stimulation to PD sufferers was rapidly promoted following the discovery of the Benabid team, through human surgery. There is no doubt that the benefit of subthalamic nucleus stimulation would have been have been found without monkey experiments".

At this point Mary Baker, from The Parkinson's Disease Society, interrupted "Do you actually have a question?"

"Yes", continued the campaigner. "Given all of the above, how can you justify the vast research grants which continue to divert funds towards monkeys, instead of human patients"?

To which Aziz' responded "Yes".

None of us need to be Einstein to realise that you cannot answer a question which starts "How?" with the word "Yes"!

The campaigner continued "Are you not going to answer my question?"

At this point Mary Baker told the campaigner "I'm sure Professor Aziz will be glad to answer your question after the talk".

The questions continued as an audience member, separate from the campaigners, asked "Is it really necessary to test on animals?" to which Aziz replied "Not in its entirety".

By this point Aziz had begun to look uncomfortably nervous and on edge, as he touched his face and twitched neurotically at his moustache.

More questions were raised by the audience regarding other aspects of DBS, including its other applications and the cost, (which is very high; perhaps if research grants were re directed to researchers focusing on human patients, DBS might be more widely available and more cost effective?)

Fortunately, the next question came from another campaigner, and its following on effect was totally unexpected:

Q2 "On the BBC's recent documentary "Monkeys Rats and Me", with reference to Felix, the macaque monkey, you said, and I quote: pain "is not part of the process of my research". However Oxford University has disclosed that your research has been classified in the most severe category - substantial - which involves "significant morbidity", a "major departure from the animals' usual wellbeing", and welfare that is "seriously compromised", as defined by the Guidance on the Operation of the ASPA 1986. Can you explain this apparent contradiction and how do you respond to the charge that you are incapable of fulfilling..."

At this point a member of the Cheltenham Festival pointed at the campaigner, and police and security started to move towards him.

"...the duties of a licence holder because you are incapable of recognising the adverse effects suffered by Felix, and others, in your experiments?"

The campaigner finished his question and was lifted to his feet by two security.

Tipu Aziz' response was "I research Parkinson's, not pain".

The campaigner was then dragged from the hall, shouting "Fraud!" as he was manhandled. Outside, police asked for his name and address, which he refused to give. (He had not committed a crime and had no obligation to give his details.) He was then arrested and taken to Cheltenham Police station and charged with a "section 50" offence.

The questions were then rounded off by Mary Baker, and a campaigner attending his first demonstration attempted to ask one final question, but was, again, forcibly removed. The first campaigner to ask a question demanded to know why Baker and Aziz were physically removing audience members who opposed their research? There were no comments. The campaigners were escorted from the room.

After the talk, everyone re grouped at the entrance to the town hall and continued their successful leafleting, even reaching one of Aziz' patients who, after learning that our criticism was directed at Aziz' research methods, as opposed to his skills as a surgeon, was happy to take a leaflet.

There was much exchange regarding the shocking treatment of the individuals inside the lecture room. A member of Gloucestershire Animal Action, with a Dictaphone in his pocket, approached the undercover police officer who told him to "shut the f*** up", to ask for his police number in order to make a complaint. The officer declined, which is in fact illegal.

Despite the hostile environment, there is no question in the minds of all those who attended this event that this is a vital means of educating the public, whilst simultaneously embarrassing the vivisection lobby, whose aim is to appease the public's alarm at the appalling torment experienced by the animal kingdom at their hands, by attempting to parade animal research as accurate human medicine.

In the words of one campaigner: "we will continue to attend vivisection talks to fight this aspect with leading state of the art scientists at our helm, as long as we have breath in our bodies".

It was indeed revealing for the Cheltenham Science festival audience to witness the waves of panic experienced by the MRC as they tried to prevent an educated and informed public direct the light of true science at a medieval, cruel and archaic mal practise.