HCBA Lawyer Magazine Vol. 29, No. 3 | Page 34

BIoBanks, BroaD ConsEnTs, anD waIvErs: wHaT THE rEvIsED Common ruLE maY CHangE Health Care law Section Chairs: TJ Ferrante – Foley & Lardner LLP & Kevin Rudolph – Shriners Hospitals for Children Institutions now will have to confirm that the proper broad consents were obtained from all individuals whose B iobank. For some, the term conjures up an image of a highly futuristic lab with vaults, tubes, and cryogenic chambers billowing dry ice smoke everywhere. For others, the word is just a fancy way of describing an old freezer in the back of a lab containing a bunch of leftover test tubes haphazardly organized. Although the reality lies 32 biospecimens may be used in an identifiable manner in a secondary research study. somewhere in between for most biobanks, the revised Common Rule issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with its latest effective implementation date of January 21, 2019, requires certain changes to the informed consent process for obtaining samples from human subjects. One particular change is to “broad consents” for human subject samples to be used in future research efforts. Under the earlier version of the Common Rule, many institutions used variations of “broad informed Continued on page 33 JAN - FEB 2019 | HCBA LAWYER