Could do better

Only “minimal” progress has been made towards reforming the overburdened
system in the US for protecting people who are the subjects of research, says a
government report released last week. American studies are vetted by local
review boards. But two years ago, a high-profile review concluded that these
panels of volunteers weren’t up to the job
(New Scientist, 20 June 1998, p 3).
Officials at the Food and Drug Administration and the National
Institutes of Health say that they have been working to solve the problems, but
the new report suggests that Congress may have to intervene.