In the United States, when a test article is unapproved or not yet cleared by the FDA, or when an approved or cleared test article is used in a way that may significantly increases the risks (or decreases the acceptability of the risks), the data obtained from the pre-clinical studies or other supporting evidence, case studies of off label use, etc. are submitted in support of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review prior to conducting studies that involve even one human and a test article if the results are intended to be submitted to or held for inspection by the FDA at any time in the future (in the case of an already approved test article, if intended to submit or hold for inspection by the FDA in support of a change in labeling or advertising). Where devices are concerned the submission to the FDA would be for an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application if the device is a significant risk device or is not in some way exempt from prior submission to the FDA. In addition clinical research may require Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Research Ethics Board (REB) and possibly Other institutional Committee reviews, Privacy Board, Conflict of Interest Committee, Radiation Safety Committee, Radioactive Drug Research Committee, etc. approval whether or not the research requires prior submission to the FDA. Clinical research review criteria will depend on which Federal regulations the research is subject to (e.g., [(Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) if Federally funded, FDA as already discussed) and will depend on which regulations the institutions subscribe to, in addition to any more stringent criteria added by the institution possibly in response to state or local laws/policies or accreditation entity recommendations. This additional layer of review (IRB/REB in particular) is critical to the protection of human subjects especially when you consider that often research subject to the FDA regulation for prior submission is allowed to proceed, by those same FDA regulations, 30 days after submission to the FDA unless specifically notified by the FDA not to initiate the study. Wikipedia.org