UC Davis sued over program with ties to Elon Musk that experiments on monkeys

DAVIS, Calif. - More than 17,000 doctors said they are suing UC Davis for a program funded by Elon Musk which they believe causes monkey cruelty.

The lawsuit by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said Neuralink, a program developing an implantable brain machine, violates the welfare of the monkeys used in the experiments.

The doctors said the program fails to provide dying monkeys with sufficient veterinary care, and they want UC Davis to release photos and videos of the 23 monkeys used in the experiments.

ALSO: UCF student says he was offered $5K by Elon Musk to stop tracking billionaire's private jet

"UC Davis may have handed over its publicly-funded facilities to a billionaire, but that doesn’t mean it can evade transparency requirements and violate federal animal welfare laws," said Jeremy Beckham, MPA, MPH, research advocacy coordinator with the Physicians Committee. 

"The documents reveal that monkeys had their brains mutilated in shoddy experiments and were left to suffer and die," said Beckham. "It’s no mystery why Elon Musk and the university want to keep photos and videos of this horrific abuse hidden from the public."

Most of the animals allegedly had portions of their skulls removed to implant electrodes in their brains. They said the monkeys were caged alone, had steel posts screwed to their skulls, suffered "facial trauma," seizures following brain implants.

ALSO: Airbnb guests allegedly stole 'Nubbins the cat' after staying at Sonoma rental

The doctors said an unapproved substance known as "Bioglue" was used to kill the monkeys by destroying portions of their brains.

In some cases, as a result of deteriorating health, Neuralink and UC Davis allegedly euthanized monkeys before they were even used in the planned experiment.

UC Davis denies any violation of animal cruelty laws.