Direct Impact on Animal Welfare Among Noncompliance in Studies

In recent years, half of the incidents of noncompliance discovered during semi-annual inspections and reported to the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) involved “direct impacts on animal welfare,” with issues related to euthanasia and pain medications among the more common problems.

During a recent webinar[1] in which federal officials discussed plans to implement changes stemming from the animal research provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act,[2] OLAW Director Patricia Brown gave some details about the small percentage of serious noncompliance issues spotted during inspections.

Other speakers were Betty Goldentyer, deputy administrator of the Animal Care program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Brianna Skinner, a senior regulatory veterinarian with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Brown’s remarks were part of an explanation as to why the agency is sticking with its requirement for semiannual inspections, rather than dropping that down to annual as some had requested (others were opposed).

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