§ 21.72 Individual consent to disclosure of records to other persons.

(a) Individuals may consent to disclosure of records about themselves to other persons in several ways, for example: (1) An individual may give consent at the time that the information is collected for disclosure for specific purposes or to specific persons. (2) An individual may give consent for disclosure of his records to a specific person. (3) An individual may request the Food and Drug Administration to transcribe a specific record for submission to another person. (b) In each case the consent shall be in writing and shall specify the individual, organizational unit, or class of individuals or organizational units to whom the record may be disclosed, which record may be disclosed, and, if applicable, for what time period. A blanket consent to release all of an individual's records to unspecified individuals or organizational units will not be honored. Verification of the identity of the individual and, where applicable, of the person to whom the record is to be disclosed shall be made in accordance with § 21.44. Consent documents shall be retained for a period of at least 2 years. If such documents are used as a means of accounting for the disclosure, they shall be retained as provided in § 21.71(e)(2).