Following up on its July 2017 guidance on the same topic (discussed in a previous blog post), FDA issued a proposed rule on November 15, 2018 to amend Agency regulations to allow Institutional Review Boards (“IRBs”) to waive or alter certain informed consent elements (or in some cases, waive the informed consent requirement altogether) for FDA-regulated, minimal risk clinical investigations (“Proposed Rule”).
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that FDA intends to update its regulations governing clinical studies of new drugs. More specifically, FDA intends to update Parts 312 and 16 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (the “Code” or “CFR”). In its announcement, HHS stated that the revisions will be focused on defining and clarifying “the roles and responsibilities of the various persons engaged in the initiation, conduct, and oversight of clinical investigations subject to [investigational new drug] requirements.” The announcement also notes that the changes will “better protect the rights, safety and welfare of subjects and help ensure the integrity of clinical trial data.”