COLUMBIA, S.C. — A series of experiments at the University of South Carolina in Columbia involving rats, cocaine and electric shocks has been stopped following a university investigation into complaints about lab-animal welfare.
The experiments involved laboratory rats receiving electric shocks as punishment for seeking cocaine, according to records from the National Institutes of Health, which provided the experiment with grant funding.
The experiments have been halted because the electric shocks were administered for longer periods of time and at greater strength than had been approved, according to emails between USC and the NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare.
