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The cost of self‐imposed regulatory burden in animal research
Author(s) -
Thulin Joseph D.,
Bradfield John F.,
Bergdall Valerie K.,
Conour Laura A.,
Grady Andrew W.,
Hickman Debra L.,
Norton John N.,
Wallace Jeanne M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fj.14-254094
Subject(s) - bureaucracy , public economics , business , compliance (psychology) , animal welfare , indirect costs , animal testing , quality (philosophy) , economics , political science , psychology , accounting , biology , social psychology , ecology , philosophy , epistemology , politics , law
U.S. federal regulations and standards governing the care and use of research animals enacted in the mid‐ to late 1980s, while having positive effects on the welfare and quality of the animals, have resulted in dramatic increases in overall research costs. In addition to the expenses of housing and caring for animals according to the standards, establishing the requisite internal compliance bureaucracies has markedly driven up costs, in both institutional monetary expenditures and lost research effort. However, many institutions are increasing these costs even further through additional self‐imposed regulatory burden, typically characterized by overly complex compliance organizations and unnecessary policies and procedures. We discuss the sources of this self‐imposed burden and recommend strategies for avoiding it while preserving an appropriate focus on animal well‐being and research success.—Thulin, J. D., Bradfield, J. F., Bergdall, V. K., Conour, L. A., Grady, A. W., Hickman, D. L., Norton, J. N., Wallace, J. M. The cost of self‐imposed regulatory burden in animal research. FASEB J. 28, 3297–3300 (2014). www.fasebj.org