DCO Activity Data

Background:

Section 289 of the Public Health Service Act authorizes OHRP, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to establish a compliance oversight process regarding violations of the rights of human subjects of research conducted or supported by HHS. Pursuant to this authority, OHRP may receive reports of such violations and take appropriate action.

OHRP also derives compliance authority from the HHS regulations for the protection of human research subjects at 45 CFR part 46 (hereinafter referred to as "the HHS regulations"). HHS regulations at 45 CFR 46.103(a) require each institution engaged in non-exempt human subjects research that is conducted or supported by HHS to provide written assurance that it will comply with the requirements of the HHS regulations. On behalf of HHS, OHRP reviews and approves these written agreements, called assurances of compliance (Federalwide Assurances or FWAs). An FWA approved by OHRP commits the entire institution (including institutional officials, IRBs designated in the FWA, research investigators, and all other employees or agents) to full compliance with the HHS regulations whenever the institution is engaged in HHS-supported research.

Division of Compliance Oversight (DCO) Activity Data:

OHRP has responsibility for oversight of compliance with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations for the protection of human research subjects (at 45 CFR Part 46). In carrying out this responsibility, DCO is the division within OHRP that reviews allegations of noncompliance these regulations, and determines whether to conduct a for-cause compliance investigation. DCO also conducts a human research protection program evaluations, and reviews incident reports (IRPTs) submitted by institutions that have a Federalwide Assurance on file at OHRP. These incidents include: reports of unanticipated problems involving risks to subjects or others; serious or continuing noncompliance with HHS regulations; and, suspensions or terminations of IRB approval.

The following tables and charts provide quarterly aggregate data per fiscal year (January 1st thru March 31th) on several key activities performed by DCO.

2025 1Q Fiscal 2025 2Q Fiscal 2025 3Q Fiscal 2025 4Q Fiscal 2025

Incident Reports
Total Incident Reports Received 236 253 - -
Full 120 124 - -
Initial 50 57 - -
Follow-Up 66 72 - -

Complaints
Total Complaints Received 25 28 - -

Cases
Total Active Cases 10 5 - -
For Cause 9 5 - -
Not For Cause 1 0 - -

Data for the current year up to now:

Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received for Q1 and Q2 in 2025. Q1: 236, Q2: 253.
Bar chart of Total Complaints Received for Q1 and Q2 in 2025. Q1: 25, Q2: 28.
Bar chart of Active Cases for Q1 and Q2 in 2025. Q1: 10, Q2: 5.
Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received for Q1 and Q2 in 2025. Each quarter is represented with three bars indicating Full (green), Initial (blue), and Follow-Up (yellow) reports. Q1: Full (120), Initial (50), Follow-up (66). Q2: Full (124), Initial (57), Follow-up (72).
Bar chart of Active Cases for Q1 and Q2 in 2025. Each quarter has two bars: "For Cause" cases in green and "Not For Cause" cases in blue. Q1: For Cause (9), Not for Cause (1). Q2: For Cause (5), Not for Cause (0).

20241Q Fiscal 20242Q Fiscal 20243Q Fiscal 20244Q Fiscal 2024
IRPTs Received241279357268
Complaints Received1961721
Active Cases12111011

Data for 2024:

Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2024.
Bar chart of Total Complaints Received over four fiscal quarters in 2024.
Bar chart of Total Active Cases Received over four fiscal quarters in 2024.
Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received with Full Initial and Follow-up over four fiscal quarters in 2024.
Bar chart of Total Active Cases Received with For Cause and Not For Cause over four fiscal quarters in 2024.

20231Q Fiscal 20232Q Fiscal 20233Q Fiscal 20234Q Fiscal 2023
IRPTs Received244289247256
Complaints Received0131813
Active Cases13131413

Data for 2023:

Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2023. 1Q: 244, 2Q: 289, 3Q: 247, 4Q: 256.
Bar chart of Total Complaints Received over four fiscal quarters in 2023. 1Q: 0, 2Q: 13, 3Q: 18, 4Q: 13.
Bar chart of Active Cases over four fiscal quarters in 2023. 1Q: 13, 2Q: 13, 3Q: 14, 4Q: 13.
Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2023. Each quarter is represented with three bars indicating Full (green), Initial (blue), and Follow-Up (yellow) reports. 1Q: Full (147), Initial (59), Follow-up (38). 2Q: Full (177), Initial (51), Follow-up (61). 3Q: Full (139), Initial (54), Follow-up (54), 4Q: Full (158), Initial (38), Follow-up (60).
Bar chart of Active Cases over four fiscal quarters in 2023. Each quarter has two bars: "For Cause" cases in green and "Not For Cause" cases in blue. 1Q: For Cause (11), Not for Cause (2), 2Q: For Cause (11), Not for Cause (2), 3Q: For Cause (11), Not for Cause (3), 4Q: For Cause (10), Not for Cause (3).

20221Q Fiscal 20222Q Fiscal 20223Q Fiscal 20224Q Fiscal 2022
IRPTs Received231206280263
Complaints Received511361
Active Cases15121313

Data for 2022:

Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2022. 1Q: 231, 2Q: 206, 3Q: 280, 4Q: 263.
Bar chart of Total Complaints Received over four fiscal quarters in 2022. 1Q: 51, 2Q: 13, 3Q: 6, 4Q: 1.
Bar chart of Active Cases over four fiscal quarters in 2022. 1Q: 15, 2Q: 12, 3Q: 13, 4Q: 13.
Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2022. Each quarter is represented with three bars indicating Full (green), Initial (blue), and Follow-Up (yellow) reports. 1Q: Full (138), Initial (44), Follow-up (49). 2Q: Full (120), Initial (53), Follow-up (33). 3Q: Full (163), Initial (68), Follow-up (49), 4Q: Full (148), Initial (55), Follow-up (60).
Bar chart of Active Cases over four fiscal quarters in 2022. Each quarter has two bars: "For Cause" cases in green and "Not For Cause" cases in blue. 1Q: For Cause (9), Not for Cause (6), 2Q: For Cause (9), Not for Cause (3), 3Q: For Cause (10), Not for Cause (3), 4Q: For Cause (11), Not for Cause (2).

20211Q Fiscal 20212Q Fiscal 20213Q Fiscal 20214Q Fiscal 2021
IRPTs Received143177221176
Complaints Received349215107111
Active Cases11121413

Data for 2021:

Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2021. 1Q: 143, 2Q: 177, 3Q: 221, 4Q: 176.
Bar chart of Total Complaints Received over four fiscal quarters in 2021. 1Q: 349, 2Q: 215, 3Q: 107, 4Q: 111.
Bar chart of Active Cases over four fiscal quarters in 2021. 1Q: 11, 2Q: 12, 3Q: 14, 4Q: 13.
Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2021. Each quarter is represented with three bars indicating Full (green), Initial (blue), and Follow-Up (yellow) reports. First quarter is blank. 2Q: Full (117), Initial (32), Follow-up (28). 3Q: Full (159), Initial (27), Follow-up (35), 4Q: Full (122), Initial (30), Follow-up (24).
Bar chart of Complaints Received over four fiscal quarters in 2021. Each quarter is represented with two bars indicating "Not HSR" in green and "HSR" in blue. First quarter is blank. 2Q: Not HSR (144), HSR (71), 3Q: Not HSR (75), HSR (32), 4Q: Not HSR (81), HSR (30).
Bar chart of Active Cases over four fiscal quarters in 2021. Each quarter has two bars: "For Cause" cases in green and "Not For Cause" cases in blue. 1Q: For Cause (7), Not for Cause (4), 2Q: For Cause (7), Not for Cause (5), 3Q: For Cause (7), Not for Cause (7), 4Q: For Cause (7), Not for Cause (6).

20201Q Fiscal 20202Q Fiscal 20203Q Fiscal 20204Q Fiscal 2020
IRPTs Received255199251198
Complaints Received3754125211
Active Cases14111111

Data for 2020:

Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2020. 1Q: 255, 2Q: 199, 3Q: 251, 4Q: 198.

 

Bar chart of Total Complaints Received over four fiscal quarters in 2020. 1Q: 37, 2Q: 54, 3Q: 125, 4Q: 211.

 

Bar chart of Active Cases over four fiscal quarters in 2020. 1Q: 14, 2Q: 11, 3Q: 11, 4Q: 11.

20191Q Fiscal 20192Q Fiscal 20193Q Fiscal 20194Q Fiscal 2019
IRPTs Received257188201272
Complaints Received20364850
Active Cases17151514

Data for 2019:

Bar chart of Total Incident Reports Received over four fiscal quarters in 2019. 1Q: 257, 2Q: 188, 3Q: 201, 4Q: 272.

 

Bar chart of Total Complaints Received over four fiscal quarters in 2019. 1Q: 20, 2Q: 36, 3Q: 48, 4Q: 50.

 

Bar chart of Active Cases over four fiscal quarters in 2019. 1Q: 17, 2Q: 15, 3Q: 15, 4Q: 14.

Definitions:

Incident Reports ("IRPTs") – Incident reports are notifications that OHRP receives from institutions to meet their regulatory obligation to report incidents of unanticipated problems involving risks to subjects or others; serious or continuing noncompliance with these regulations the requirements or determinations of the IRB; and suspensions or terminations of IRB approval. All incident reports are reviewed by DCO within 2 business days to identify incidents that may place research subjects at an increased risk and require immediate action from OHRP.

Full reports are complete initial reports that will not require a follow-up report.

Initial reports will require a follow-up report to be completed. This may be required for instances where the institution has not implemented a corrective action plan or has not completed gathering all information but is required to report incidents as required by the pre-2018 Requirements at 45 CFR 46.103(b)(5), and the 2018 Requirements at 45 CFR 46.108(a)(4).

Follow-up reports provide additional information to a previously submitted initial report.

Complaints – While the data prior to 2022 includes all complaints received by OHRP, data beginning in 2022 represents the total number of complaints OHRP receives that meet the regulatory definition of human subjects research (HSR) as defined by the Common Rule (45 CFR 46). Most of the complaints received by OHRP pertain to issues that do not involve HSR. Often these complaints are about research that is not covered by the Common Rule or pertain to issues that are not related to research at all. Generally, the source of complaints sent to OHRP include, but are not limited to, research subjects and their family members, individuals involved in the conduct of research such as investigators and study coordinators, institutional officials, journalists, or media. OHRP takes all complaints seriously.

Active Cases – This data represents the number of OHRP cases that are ongoing and includes both for-cause and not-for-cause cases.

For-cause evaluations occur at OHRP's discretion, in response to OHRP's receipt of substantive written allegations or indications of noncompliance with the HHS regulations. Sources of such allegations or indications of noncompliance include, but are not limited to, research subjects and their family members, individuals involved in the conduct of research such as investigators and study coordinators, institutional officials, and research publications.

For-cause cases are those that are generally initiated as a result of allegations of non-compliance. Sources of such allegations or indications of noncompliance include, but are not limited to, research subjects and their family members, individuals involved in the conduct of research such as investigators and study coordinators, institutional officials, and research publications. OHRP may choose to use other mechanisms to address allegations or indications of noncompliance rather than conducting a for-cause evaluation. In general, information about these compliance activities are not provided to the public. For further details see OHRP’s guidance, "Compliance Oversight Procedures for Evaluating Institutions".

Not-for-cause compliance oversight evaluations are conducted in the absence of substantive allegations or indications of noncompliance. Institutions are selected for not-for-cause evaluation based on a range of considerations, including: (a) the volume of HHS-conducted or -supported research in which they are engaged; (b) whether they have a history of a relatively low level of reporting to OHRP under the requirements of HHS regulations at 45 CFR 46.103(b)(5); (c) the need to evaluate implementation of corrective actions following a previous for-cause compliance oversight evaluation; (d) geographic location; (e) status of accreditation by professionally recognized human subject protection program accreditation groups; and (f) status of recent human subject protection evaluations or audits by other regulatory agencies (such as the Food and Drug Administration).

For more information about compliances cases and how they are conducted, please visit OHRP’s website at: https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/compliance-and-reporting/evaluating-institutions/index.html

Content created by Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP)
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