CHAPTER 171-A SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED
Miscellaneous
Section 171-A:19-a
171-A:19-a Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. –
I. There is hereby established within the department an institutional review board which shall be known as the committee for the protection of human subjects. The committee shall oversee research conducted in department-funded programs that serve people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse or dependence disorders. No research shall be conducted in these programs until it has been reviewed and approved by the committee. In matters of cooperative research involving more than one institution, if the federal agency funding the research determines that a single institutional review board will provide oversight, the committee shall defer oversight to that institutional review board.
II. The committee shall have, at a minimum, 7 members with varying backgrounds to promote complete and adequate review of research activities. The commissioner shall appoint the members. The committee shall be sufficiently qualified through the experience, expertise, and diversity of its members to promote respect for its advice and counsel in protecting human subjects in research and safeguarding the privacy and confidentiality of medical records information that is used for the purposes of research. In addition to possessing the professional competence necessary to review specific research activities, the committee shall be able to ascertain the acceptability of proposed research in terms of applicable laws and regulations and standards of professional conduct and practice. The committee shall therefore include persons knowledgeable in these areas. Members of the committee shall be appointed to 3-year terms.
III. The committee shall include at least one member whose primary area of expertise is scientific and one member whose primary area of expertise is non-scientific.
IV. The committee shall include at least 2 members who are not otherwise affiliated with the department and who are not part of the immediate family of a person who is affiliated with the department.
V. The committee shall include at least 2 members who are consumers or family members of consumers.
VI. No member of the committee shall participate in initial or continuing review of any research project in which the member has a conflicting interest, except to provide information requested by the committee.
VII. The committee may, in its discretion, invite individuals with competence in special areas to assist in the review of issues that require expertise beyond or in addition to that possessed by the members of the committee. These individuals may only offer advice and guidance and shall not participate in the decision as to whether or not to approve the research.
VIII. The committee shall choose a chairperson and vice-chairperson from its membership. The commissioner may assign department staff to assist the committee as needed.
IX. The commissioner may establish fees, through rules adopted under RSA 541-A, as deemed necessary, after consultation with the committee, to offset departmental costs of providing assistance to the committee pursuant to paragraph VIII. Fee revenue shall not be deposited into the general fund, but may be used by the department to offset such costs.
Source. 2005, 183:1. 2007, 263:94, eff. July 1, 2007. 2019, 287:10, eff. July 19, 2019.