When may the requirement for documentation of informed consent or parental permission be waived or altered?
When an Institutional Review Board (IRB) has not waived the requirement for seeking prospective informed consent of the subjects or the parental permission of children who are subjects, under the HHS regulations at 45 CFR 46.117(c), it may waive the requirement for the investigator to obtain a signed consent form for some or all subjects if it finds either: • That the only record linking the subject and the research would be the consent document and the principal risk would be potential harm resulting from a breach of confidentiality. Each subject will be asked whether the subject wants documentation linking the subject with the research and the subject’s wishes will govern; or • That the research presents no more than minimal risk of harm to subjects and involves no procedures for which written consent is normally required outside of the research context (e.g., drawing a blood sample, or asking shoppers in a mall about the ambient lighting or temperature). Some subjects might refuse a
