Posted by editor on August 21, 2004 at 06:36:44:
Hundreds of payments have been made to scientists at the National Institute of Health by drug companies. This adds up to millions of dollars!
The LA Times has published several articles that address this problem.
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FDA Chief Launches Internal Inquiry of Payments- Deals in which medical firms paid government scientists prompt 'outside activity' review
May 18, 2004 - The acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration has ordered an agencywide inquiry to determine the extent of biomedical company payments to officials at the regulatory agency.
Panel Wants Top Health Officials Off Drug Payrolls
May 7, 2004 - Senior officials at the National Institutes of Health should be barred from accepting income of any kind from drug companies, a panel examining conflict of interest at the agency recommended in its final report Thursday.
Curbs on Outside Deals at NIH Urged
April 9, 2004 - The National Institutes of Health should publicly disclose all drug company payments to its scientists, and should bar employees from accepting stock or stock options from industry, according to a draft report from a panel examining conflict of interest at the agency.
Ethics Policy Announced for NIH Officials
March 2, 2004 - Top scientists will be required to disclose outside income from biomedical firms. New panel may also evaluate consulting restrictions.
NIH Directors No Longer Drug Firm Consultants
January 23, 2004 - Top officials have stopped accepting consulting fees and stock options from drug companies, the agency's leader tells a Senate hearing
U.S. Scientists' Deals With Drug Firms Under Review
December 29, 2003 - Director of the National Institutes of Health may increase disclosure of consulting payments.
Stealth Merger: Drug Companies and Government Medical Research
December 7, 2003 - Some of the National Institutes of Health's top scientists are also collecting paychecks and stock options from biomedical firms. Increasingly, such deals are kept secret.
clips of document showing changes in the NIH beginning in 1995
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..."Two decades ago, the NIH was so distinct from industry that Margaret Heckler, secretary of Health and Human Services in the Reagan administration, could describe it as "an island of objective and pristine research, untainted by the influences of commercialization."
"...Today, with its senior scientists collecting paychecks and stock options from biomedical companies, the NIH is no longer an island." - David Willman, Times Staff Writer
The credibility gap in drug research - from Business Week, 2002