National Research Act

The National Research Act was enacted by the 93rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on July 12, 1974 after a series of congressional hearings on human-subjects research, directed by Senator Edward Kennedy.[1] The National Research Act created the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research to develop guidelines for human subject research and to oversee and regulate the use of human experimentation in medicine. The National Research Act issued Title 45, Part 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations: Protection of Human Subjects. The National Research Act is overseen by the Office of Human Research Protections. The Act also formalized a regulated IRB process through local institutional review boards, also overseen by the Office of Human Research Protections.[2]

National Research Act

Other short titles	National Research Service Award Act of 1974
Long title	An Act to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a program of National Research Service Awards to assure the continued excellence of biomedical and behavioral research and to provide for the protection of human subjects involved in biomedical and behavioral research and for other purposes.
Nicknames	National Biomedical Research Fellowship, Traineeship, and Training Act
Enacted by	the 93rd United States Congress
Effective	July 12, 1974
Citations
Public law	93-348
Statutes at Large	88 Stat. 342
Codification
Titles amended	42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfare
U.S.C. sections amended	42 U.S.C. ch. 6A, subch. I § 218 42 U.S.C. ch. 6A, subch. II § 241 42 U.S.C. ch. 6A, subch. III §§ 289l-1, 289l-3
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 7724 by Paul G. Rogers (D–FL) on May 10, 1973 Committee consideration by House Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Senate Labor and Public Welfare Passed the House on May 31, 1973 (354-9) Passed the Senate on September 11, 1973 (81-6) Reported by the joint conference committee on June 24, 1974; agreed to by the Senate on June 27, 1974 (72-14) and by the House on June 28, 1974 (311-10) Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on July 12, 1974

The National Research Act gained traction as a response to the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study.[3]

See also

• Human experimentation in the United States
• Belmont Report
• Eugenics in the United States
• Unethical human experimentation
• Human rights in the United States
• Project MKUltra
• Tuskegee syphilis experiment

References

1. National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (April 18, 1979). "The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research". Regulations and Ethical Guidelines. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
2. Rice, Todd (October 2008). "The Historical, Ethical, and Legal Background of Human-Subjects Research". Respiratory Care. 53 (10): 1325–1329.
3. Chadwick, G.L. (January 1997). "Historical perspective: Nuremberg, Tuskegee, and the radiation experiments". Int Assoc Physicians AIDS Care. 3 (1): 27-28. PMID 11363960.

External Links

• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Title 45: Public Welfare. Subtitle A. Subchapter A. Part 46: PROTECTION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS