Comments Welcomed on the Draft Report Recommending How to Reduce Administrative Burden in Research with Laboratory Animals: A Next Step in Implementing the 21st Century Cures Act

The 21st Century Cures Act requires federal agencies to “review applicable regulations and policies for the care and use of laboratory animals and make revisions, as appropriate, to reduce administrative burden on investigators while maintaining the integrity and credibility of research finding and protection of research animals.” This past March we requested feedback from the public on ways to reduce regulatory burden while also maintaining the highest standards for protecting animal welfare and scientific integrity. You responded with constructive and helpful feedback with more than 19,000 comments. Generally, many responses supported the actions initially proposed in the request, but they were balanced with concerns from animal advocacy and other groups. A working group of animal welfare experts from NIH, the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration thoroughly reviewed and carefully considered all public comments. The working group integrated their analysis of the public comments with their previous studies of relevant published reports, survey findings from diverse animal welfare organizations, and feedback provided by engaged stakeholders at listening sessions during professional meetings. They have now released a draft report (see also the Federal Register Notice), which includes proposed actions to address inconsistent, overlapping, or unnecessarily duplicative laboratory animal welfare regulations and policies (NOT-OD-19-028). Today, we ag...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike Administrative Burden Animal Welfare Request For Information (RFI) Source Type: funding