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AAAS Resolution:
Reestablishment of the Ethics Advisory Board, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Whereas the Ethics Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has not been in operation since 1980, and
Whereas serious ethical concerns continue to arise in current and proposed areas of biological, biomedical, and behavioral research, including:
Reproductive biology;
Research involving children;
Research involving the mentally impaired, including the demented elderly, or others where the issue of informed consent becomes problematic;
Research on aggression;
Issues of confidentiality and access to research information,
Whereas certain types of research proposals in these areas by law cannot be funded in the absence of review and approval by an Ethics Advisory Board in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [see for example 45 CSF Subpart B, Section 46.204 and Subpart D, Section 46.407 9(b)], and
Whereas the scientific community, policy-makers, and the public at large benefit greatly from national advisory panels which interpret and apply existing policies to specific research proposals which may be problematic or controversial,
Be it resolved that the American Association for the Advancement of Science strongly urges the Secretary of Health and Human Services to authorize the reestablishment of an Ethics Advisory Board, and
Be it further resolved that the Association urges the Secretary to solicit nominations for Board members from professional and scientific societies as well as other informed and interested organizations, and
Be it further resolved that AAAS encourage its affiliated societies to add their support to the establishment of an Ethics Advisory Board. [Adopted by the AAAS Council, May 29, 1986.]
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