U.S. Presidential Commission Seeks Comments on Human Research Protection

Mar 16, 2011

The U.S. Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has issued a request for public comments in March 2011, regarding international standards related to the issue of human subjects in federally supported research. The Commission stated that it is seeking comments on the following issues: "the existing standards for protecting human subjects, domestically and internationally; how the current system of global research works in practice; and the ethical and social justice issues that emerge from the current research system."  Comments are due by 2 May 2011.

The Commission has also announced the appointment of an International Research Panel to consider the effectiveness of current federal rules and international standards governing research involving human subjects. The Panel, which plans to meet three times, will submit a report to the Commission covering the following matters: (a) the dominant norms, and competing alternatives, driving the ethics of medical research in different global regions outside of the U.S.; (b) the conflicts, if any, between U.S. norms and international standards; (c) the challenges facing researchers conducting U.S.-funded research in global settings; and (d) how best to address any major differences in regional norms for medical research.

http://app.aaas-science.org/e/er.aspx?s=1906&lid=1249&elq=d3c7b1bb69b0411a805f54360d945f57