(STAT News) – The Office for Human Research Protections’ work is critical — and now has less support than ever

Deciding whether to participate in a clinical research study can be difficult, especially for people who are newly diagnosed with a serious medical condition and are asked to take risks for the sake of scientific progress, when the outcome is perilous and unknown. The last thing you want is to be coerced into participating as a subject in a research study. 

Federal regulations are designed to keep that from happening. From 2004 until I retired in 2024, I worked in the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the office responsible for the administration of the regulations in research studies supported or conducted by HHS. (Read More)