HHS and 15 other Federal Departments and Agencies Announce Revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the Common Rule)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and fifteen other Federal Departments and Agencies have announced revisions to modernize, strengthen, and make more effective the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects that was originally promulgated as a Common Rule in 1991. This final rule is intended to better protect human subjects involved in research, while facilitating valuable research and reducing burden, delay, and ambiguity for investigators.

These revisions are an effort to modernize, simplify, and enhance the current system of oversight.

The final rule is being put on public display on January 18, 2017, by the Office of the Federal Register and can be accessed at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/19/2017-01058/federal-policy-for-protection-of-human-subjects. It is expected that the final rule will be published in the Federal Register on January 19, 2017.

HHS released a Press Release about the final rule that can be accessed at: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2017/01/18/final-rule-enhances-protections-research-participants-modernizes-oversight-system.html.