42 USC 284q-1 – NIH opioid research
(a) In general
The Director of the National Institutes of Health (referred to in this section as the “NIH”) may intensify and coordinate fundamental, translational, and clinical research of the NIH with respect to—
(1) the understanding of pain;
(2) the discovery and development of therapies for chronic pain; and
(3) the development of alternatives to opioids for effective pain treatments.
(b) Priority and direction
Terms Used In 42 USC 284q-1
- clinical research: means patient oriented clinical research conducted with human subjects, or research on the causes and consequences of disease in human populations involving material of human origin (such as tissue specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator or colleague directly interacts with human subjects in an outpatient or inpatient setting to clarify a problem in human physiology, pathophysiology or disease, or epidemiologic or behavioral studies, outcomes research or health services research, or developing new technologies, therapeutic interventions, or clinical trials. See 42 USC 284d
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
The prioritization and direction of the Federally funded portfolio of pain research studies shall consider recommendations made by the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee in concert with the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, and in accordance with the National Pain Strategy, the Federal Pain Research Strategy, and the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2016-2020, the latter of which calls for the relative burdens of individual diseases and medical disorders to be regarded as crucial considerations in balancing the priorities of the Federal research portfolio.