Less Paper, More Waiting

An unintended consequence of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 is slowing down public health research, says an article at Science Progress. The Act intended "to reduce the burden to citizens associated with government data collections" but added an extra layer of Office of Management and Budget review to studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This then, slows down the pace of research. The authors say there is a simple solution: an exemption for the CDC, similar to the ones that the NIH and the Veterans Administration received, in the next re-authorization of the bill.