Public records show 12 Monkeys died as a direct
result of Neuralink implant experiments, but Musk said Animals had 'terminal case of
cancer or something like that.' 'Neuralink’s device killed monkeys, raising serious questions about
whether it is unsafe and dangerous to patients,' says Ryan Merkley,
director of research advocacy with the Physicians Committee. 'Now
Musk is again deliberately misleading investors and the public by
lying about the company’s experiments.'
Stock photo: Getty images
In a letter sent December 13, 2023, a national physicians group is
asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate
Elon Musk for securities fraud after he recently doubled down on
false claims about what caused monkeys’ deaths at his brain-computer
interface company Neuralink. On Nov. 29, during the DealBook Summit
hosted by The New York Times, Musk said monkeys “were about to die”
when Neuralink employees cut open their skulls and implanted
devices. When seemingly referring to an individual animal, he
stated, “it had a terminal case of cancer or something like that.”
But the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which sued to
successfully obtain almost 600 pages of veterinary records, points
out that none of the 12 monkeys who died following the surgeries
appear to have had terminal diseases. Because Musk’s statements
pertain to health risks resulting from the invasiveness of the
implant, the group claims Musk is misleading investors about the
safety and marketability of the company’s product. The Physicians
Committee originally asked the SEC to investigate Musk in September
after he misleadingly posted on X that, “No monkey has died as a
result of a Neuralink implant.” In November, four U.S. lawmakers
also asked the agency to investigate the matter.
If the SEC takes action, it would not be the first time it has
penalized Musk for misleading investors. In 2018, it charged Musk
for a series of false and misleading tweets about a potential
transaction to take the company Tesla private. At the time, then
co-director of the agency’s Enforcement Division stated, “Taking
care to provide truthful and accurate information is among a CEO’s
most critical obligations.”
Neuralink itself issued a statement in February 2022 that
contradicts Musk’s recent claims, stating that six monkeys were
euthanized due to declining health following surgeries at the
University of California, Davis, where the company conducted
experiments between 2017 and 2020. Four of the deaths were because
of “suspected device-associated infections,” one was due to a
“device failure,” and another was because the surgical adhesive
BioGlue seeped onto a monkey’s brain, causing debilitating health
problems.
The BioGlue incident involved a seven-year-old rhesus macaque known
only as “Animal 21.” Neuralink surgeon Matthew MacDougall, MD, used
the adhesive to fill holes he had drilled in her skull. Her
veterinary records show she soon began suffering from swelling in
her brain, causing partial paralysis in both legs and “depression.”
She was seen “gasping/retching,” and she “collapse[d] from
exhaustion/fatigue.” When she was finally euthanized, the necropsy
report revealed that BioGlue was “covering and compressing a large
area of the left cerebrum” and blood had built up on the surface of
her brain.
The report also found “acute” ulcers in her esophagus “likely due to
vomiting” and blood in her stomach. The necropsy report made it
clear that Dr. MacDougall’s use of BioGlue was to blame: “Bioglue
was toxic to the adjacent tissues (as described in the
contraindications and warning sections of the [Instructions for
Use]).” There is no evidence that Animal 21 was suffering from a
terminal disease when she was subjected to the experiment by
Neuralink.
None of the monkeys’ health records indicate they were “close to
death,” as Musk also stated in September. Rhesus macaques often live
to about 25 years in captivity, with some living to 40. But the
average age of the 12 monkeys killed by Neuralink was 7.25 years.
The Physicians Committee points to concerns raised by medical
experts about the health risks of highly invasive devices like
Neuralink’s and their significant potential for severe medical
complications in patients. The group has urged Neuralink to halt its
animal experiments, which it continues to conduct at facilities in
California and Texas, and to instead focus on improving noninvasive
brain-computer interfaces.
While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reportedly approved
Neuralink in May 2023 to begin very limited human clinical trials, a
significant number of medical devices that begin clinical trials
never reach the market.