On its own accord, Little Eastern College appropriately applied the veterinary verification process (VVC) to change to a different anesthesia regimen that is supported in their approved IACUC policy. OLAW and APHIS do not require that both institutions involved in the research perform an IACUC review of the project1.
However, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for this project states that both schools must review and approve the protocol. Therefore, Little Eastern’s decision to change the anesthetic protocol without notifying Great Eastern’s IACUC of the action does not appear to align with the MOU. Although the MOU does not specifically require VVC changes be reviewed by both institutions, the fact that Great Eastern University was not notified of the change in anesthetic means that the work being performed at Little Eastern College is not following the protocol as it was approved by Great Eastern. In addition to a communication breakdown, the change in anesthesia initiated by Little Eastern could have scientific impact as well. The work contracted to Little Eastern College is only a component of a larger project so presumably, any anesthetic work done at Great Eastern is being performed using the same anesthetic that was listed in the initially approved protocol for Little Eastern (ketamine/xylazine). Now that research at Little Eastern is being done using isoflurane, the resulting data may no longer be comparable to results using ketamine/xylazine for anesthesia at Great Eastern.
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