Which agency issued memoranda requiring all proposed research to be reviewed?

• A. Institutional Review Board
• B. U.S. Public Health Service
• C. National Institutes of Health
• D. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that oversight for human subjects research was established by an agency, not the review body itself. The U.S. Public Health Service issued memoranda directing that all proposed research involving people be reviewed before it could proceed, setting up the requirement for an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to evaluate ethical considerations, risks, and informed consent. The IRB is the committee that does the review, but it’s the agency—early guidance from the Public Health Service—that mandated that review. The other options aren’t the issuers: an IRB is the review body, not an issuing agency; NIH and CDC are parts of the Public Health Service, but the memoranda originated from the Public Health Service as the agency. This is why the correct choice is the U.S. Public Health Service.