NIH Review Finds Widespread Ethics Violations

Posted on July 14, 2005

Bloomberg.com reports that forty four National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists violated government regulations about keeping outside contracts with pharmaceutical industry. Bloomberg also reports that nine of the scientists may be investigated for criminal violations.

The NIH review suggested the agency's ethics issues are widespread, the lawmakers said in a statement. A Congressional inquiry last year uncovered potential conflicts of interest among senior NIH scientists, as many supplemented their incomes with thousands of dollars from consulting contracts with companies including Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker.
``These findings indicate that the ethical problems are more systemic and severe than previously known,'' Barton said in the news release. ``They also demonstrate the need for NIH to issue the final ethics rule as soon as possible.''

The Bloomberg.com article says that Pfizer's contracts with the scientists range from $500 to more than $500,000 over a five-year period. Obviously, you can't have a fair evalution of drugs while a scientist is also being paid by the company that makes the drugs.

HEALTH