Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 6A— - PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES › Part Part H— - General Provisions › § 289d
The Secretary, through the Director of the NIH, must create rules for how animals are cared for and treated in biomedical and behavioral research. The rules must cover the proper use of drugs and euthanasia, and proper veterinary and nursing care before and after surgery. The rules must also describe how animal care committees should be set up and run. Every research place that gets NIH research money (including NIH itself) must have an animal care committee. The chief executive picks the committee. It must have at least three members, including at least one person not connected to the place and at least one veterinarian. The committee must inspect animal areas at least twice a year, keep records, and file with the NIH Director each year a certificate that reviews were done and reports of any guideline violations that stayed after the committee told the research place. After the 12-month period beginning on November 20, 1985, applicants for NIH animal research funding must promise they follow the rules, have a committee, provide training to staff on humane care and on methods that reduce animal use or distress, and explain why animals are needed. The rules cannot force disclosure of trade secrets or private commercial or financial information.
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The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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42 U.S.C. § 289d
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73