If a researcher disagrees with a veterinarian’s recommendations, whose say goes?

Professor Archibald Boyd was a noted primate neurophysiologist and clinical neurologist at Great Eastern University. His research focused on single-cell brain recordings from macaques that had been surgically fitted with metal implants attached to their skull. As part of the school’s every third-year protocol renewal requirement, Boyd’s IACUC protocol was reviewed by one of the school’s veterinarians. The veterinarian, with the agreement of the other veterinarians, recommended a three-drug multimodal surgical analgesia regimen consisting of buprenorphine (an opioid), a local nerve block with bupivacaine, and meloxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Boyd’s original protocol used only buprenorphine for postoperative pain relief. The veterinarian noted that the procedures Boyd used required significant muscle dissection and periosteal disruption, and even placement of a monkey’s head in the needed stereotactic apparatus could be painful. The veterinarian added that the multimodal analgesia being recommended would bring Boyd’s protocol in line with similar protocols now used with monkeys at Great Eastern and would be consistent with standard practice used at several primate centers and universities.

Boyd resubmitted his protocol without the recommended additional analgesics and without indicating if there was any scientific rationale for avoiding the NSAIDs or nerve block, such as interference with his data. However, he did write that he believed the additional drugs were unnecessary because his animals always looked good the morning after surgery, consistent with what would be expected after a long procedure. And, he added, the procedure itself was little more than a skin incision, some muscle dissection, and fixing the apparatus to the skull. He claimed that the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals¹ and the Animal Welfare Act’s regulations² did not require multimodal analgesia, and that the veterinarian’s role was limited to consultation and advisement. Although the IACUC had approved multimodal analgesic treatment in other primate protocols, it agreed that it should not force an investigator to follow a veterinarian’s recommendations. After a full-committee discussion, the protocol was approved as resubmitted by Boyd.

What is your opinion of the IACUC’s actions?