It is clear that Romansky does not have any respect for the Great Eastern IACUC. He does whatever he likes irrespective of whether it is lawful or whether the IACUC agrees. Romansky has been lax in the past, as this is not the first time he has requested an extension of an expired protocol. Once his protocol expired, it was proper for the IACUC to send him a 'cease and desist' notice. After receiving that notice, Romansky was within his rights to call and talk with the IACUC Chair and request an extension of the expired protocol. However, Covelli was right to tell Romansky that he could not reverse the IACUC's decision.

Romansky's request to transfer the mice should be submitted to the IACUC in a protocol amendment and must secure approval before he can actually move the mice from his expired protocol to an active one. However, in approving the amendment and adding the mice to the active protocol—on which a certain number of animals were already approved by the IACUC—Romansky should maintain the same total number of animals on that protocol by reducing the number of previously approved animals by the number of mice added. If Romansky secures approval of his amendment and adds the animals to the active protocol (reducing the number of animals in the active protocol as described above), then both Romansky and the IACUC will be in compliance with federal policies. If Romansky transfers mice from his expired protocol to the active protocol without securing prior approval from the Great Eastern IACUC, he will have committed scientific misconduct, which should be reported by Covelli to Great Eastern's Institutional Official.

Finally, it appears that the IACUC members and the investigators might want to refresh their training materials in order to comply with all the federal guidelines and avoid any such confusion in the future.