Yes, a chimp is a closer evolutionary relative so it stood a better chance of succeeding.
Others knew the risks and informed the patients.
This was an unnecessary risk taken by a willfully ignorant individual.
You can go on as much as you like about ego, but the doctor's clear statement was that the used a baboon because he didn't believe in evolution.
That's OK,-I stopped arguing with Democrats when I quit Compuserve. Carry on with your recruiting--watching with interst.
Then he would still have been a fool even if we had never heard of Darwin. He was ignoring Linnaeus.