Do vegans use medicines which were obviously once tested on animals?

If not, what do they take when they get a headache?

VOCs or vegans of conveneince will use medicine when they need it. No a real vegan should not a use a medicine that was tested on an animal. If a vegan uses a medication, vaccination or what not then they are flexitarian vegan. I am a flexitarian vegan, however, I proudly proclaim that I am a flexitarian for reasons such as this. However, the hypocrits who scream they are vegan, are really VOC's for this particular reason.

No

I don't use medicines. I will if I got a serious injury or disease that required it however.

For a headache, I don't take anything (but then again I never get headaches). Maybe change your diet and cut out caffeine.

"Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food."
--Hippocrates

Insulin was developed by testing on dogs.

Senior Vice President of PETA, Mary Beth Sweetland, uses insulin for her diabetes. She says her medicine "still contains some animal products -- and I have no qualms about it鈥? I don鈥檛 see myself as a hypocrite. I need my life to fight for the rights of animals."

I assume other vegans do the same.

it is very interesting to see what other vegans would do.
on tuesday i have to go to the hospital, as in october last year i had an epileptic fit, so i had a few tests and it turns out i do accually have epilepsy and the doctors think that it is more than likely i will have to take medication.
so on tuesday they will be telling me if i need the medication and then possibly i could be on it for the rest of my life. but it does worry me that the medication could have been tested on animals but i havn't done all my research yet, if it hasn't been tested on animals then i will deffinatley take the meds, but if it has then im not so sure i would want to take it as i believe animal testing is incredibley cruel.
i suppose if the doctors say im epilepsy is really bad, then i might just have to take the meds.

I don't use medicines that were obviously tested on animals and I don't really take any medicines at all, but to be fair, I've never had a serious illness so I've never had to make that call.

As hypocritical as I know I am for saying this though, if it were my baby son that needed the medicine then I have to say that his health would come before my love of animals and I would let him have whatever it took to make him better.

I just hope I am never in that position (or any of you for that matter).

Yes.

I'm vegan. I owe my life to procedures and medicines that were, by law, tested on animals, as all cancer treatments are.

Being a vegan is not about being a martyr, it is about doing the best you can and all you can to minimise your contribution to animal exploitation and suffering. Risking or sacrificing your own life is not a part of being vegan.

'Common Sense' proclaims his personal rules that he, as a non-vegan, has decided should be kept by 'real' vegans. Once again, on a board he KNOWS is read mainly by very young and impressionable people, he says that 'real' vegans should not use a medicine that was tested on animals. As in the past, the fact that he might put impressionable young people's lives at risk means nothing to him, as long as he can get get in a snide dig at vegans.

It is easy to say 'I wouldn't' or 'I suck it up' if you have not had a life-threatening illness or injury. No alternative medicine and no tea cures or treats cancer. Non-animal-tested chemotherapy was not available to me; anyone who calls someone a hypocrite for taking steps to avoid an agonising, prolonged and unnecessary death is callous beyond belief.

I regard my life and those of other human beings as something more than the 'convenience' that 'Common Sense' considers them.

If I had a recurrence tomorrow, I would do the same again - accept anything they could throw at the cancer. I will continue to take the animal-tested, lactose containing pill that I take daily to make recurrence or metastases statistically less likely. I would urge anyone in the same or a similar situation, vegan or not, to do the same. And I will continue to call myself a vegan; I fulfill all the requirements of that word according to the definition of the person who coined it.

Food can be your bloody medicine if you have a headache; if you have a serious illness it doesn't cut it.

If I have a headache, I take something vegan approved, or wait for it to go away. With something more serious, that isn't an option.

Edit** BTW Tara, if I seem a tad angry, my anger is not directed at you - you have asked a reasonable question.

I've known vegans that use animal-tested products, and will definitely use medicines tested on animals. When it boils down to it, people will do inconvenient things in the name of morality, but they won't sacrifice their own health. No one on this planet lives a life that is completely absent of others' suffering. That's why no one should preach at others for their decisions; everyone does something someone else finds objectionable.

other than testing on animals most of the things we consume as food or medications are being tested by US! We are the guinea pigs. Just because the FDA says it is safe doesn't mean it won't hurt you or have dangerous side effects.

When it comes to medicine, a vegan takes what's available. If there is a vegan option they will use that. Many vegans won't take any medicine for a minor problem such as a headache. But, then again, many non-vegans won't take medicine for something so minor either.

obviously some vegans have to take medication, and they were most probably tested on animals.
vegans have a choice when it comes down to food, clothing, cosmetics, household products, unfortunately with medication they have no choice because the government gives them no choice!
i would like to say that if there is an alternative medicine remedy then that would be the vegans first choice.
everybody takes a risk with conventional medicines due to animal testing, RGN 14 12 was a prime example of what happens when they transfer drugs tested on animals to humans, we are the true guinea pigs!

I do because I have to take medicine on a daily basis otherwise, I get very ill. The medicine also has lactose in it, but a vegan version isn't available.
Maybe this doesn't make me a 'true' vegan, but I think the general definition of a vegan is one who avoid animal products 'WHERE HUMANLY POSSIBLE'. I'm doing the best I can and that's enough for me and I do say that I am vegan.

I had to use medicines when I had this illness, and if I didn't take the medicine, I could have seizures, and eventually die.
When I have a headache, I use just turn out the lights and put a cold cloth on my head, sometimes I take a nap. I only take drugs when my life could be at risk.

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i don't.
it's so cruel!
i suck it up.
or drink tea.