Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Protocol Review
  • Published:

Response to Protocol Review Scenario: Taking too many liberties can affect trust

Lab Animal volume 45, pages 424–425 (2016)Cite this article

Assuming that the post-operative analgesic regimen was written within the approved IACUC protocol, the research technician was in violation of the protocol when he decided to withhold the final dose of analgesia from the rat. The decision to withhold analgesics is considered a significant deviation from the protocol and, assuming this study was funded through PHS awards, this event must be reported to OLAW.

The OLAW website has a section addressing Frequently Asked Questions, where it states in FAQ B13 that, “...conducting procedures that constitute a significant change in approved animal activities without prior IACUC approval is serious noncompliance that must be reported to OLAW”1. In FAQ D9, OLAW states that, “examples of changes considered to be significant include, but are not limited to, changes...in anesthetic agents or the use or withholding of analgesics”1. While skipping the last dose of the analgesic may not have significantly impacted the animal's well-being, the point is that the technician was not at liberty to make that decision.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. Frequently asked questions PHS policy on humane care and use of laboratory animals. National Institutes of Health Office of Extramural Research. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/faqs.htm#630 (2016).

  2. Public Health Service. Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC, 1986, revised 2015).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wood and Connor-Stroud are Associate Veterinarians, Levesque is Associate Veterinarian and IACUC Vice-Chair, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.,

    Jennifer S. Wood,  Fawn Connor-Stroud &  Denyse Levesque

Authors
  1. Jennifer S. Wood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Fawn Connor-Stroud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Denyse Levesque
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wood, J., Connor-Stroud, F. & Levesque, D. Response to Protocol Review Scenario: Taking too many liberties can affect trust. Lab Anim 45, 424–425 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.1140

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.1140

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing