1. Service Units
  2. Research Integrity & Compliance
  3. Animal Research
  4. Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
  5. IACUC Approved Policies
  6. Death as an Endpoint
  • uconn health
Page content relevant to:

Death as an Endpoint

Purpose

In order to comply with federal regulations (USDA and PHS) and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 8th edition, 2011, the UConn Health’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) has established a policy on death as an endpoint in research projects.

Action

1. Studies should be terminated when animals begin to exhibit adverse clinical signs if this endpoint is compatible with meeting research objectives.

2. Protocols requiring death as an endpoint must contain the following:

  • Scientific rationale
  • Consideration of alternate endpoints
  • Number of animals used for this endpoint and why it is the minimum necessary
  • Plan describing the monitoring of these animals
  • What information is to be gained in the interval between moribundity and death

3. The use of death as an endpoint must be approved by the IACUC prior to the initiation of the research project.

4. Under no circumstances may the use of death as an endpoint be applied simply because it is an unambiguous and easy criterion to apply.

Effective Dates:  June 2, 2022 through June 30, 2025