Healthy Skepticism Library item: 6109

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Publication type: news

Beamish R.
NIH: Scientists escape ethics punishment
Associated Press 2006 Sep 12
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060912/ap_on_sc/research_ethics

Full text:

NIH: Scientists escape ethics punishment
By RITA BEAMISH
Tue Sep 12, 6:59 PM ET

Most of the federal scientists who improperly accepted personal money from
drug or biotechnology companies walked away with reprimands or were allowed
to retire unscathed.
Only two of the 44 scientists found to have violated rules governing private
consulting deals are being investigated for possible criminal activity, and
they remain on the government payroll, the National Institutes of Health
told The Associated Press this week in the most detailed accounting it has
released.

NIH spokesman John Burklow said his agency wanted eight others reviewed for
possible crimes, but those cases were rejected by the investigating office
at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. The two still outstanding – Drs. Trey Sunderland and Thomas Walsh – both committed “serious
misconduct,” so grave that they would be fired if they were civilians, NIH
internal ethics reports contend. NIH says it has been unable to act against
the two because they are part of the Public Health Service Commissioned
Corps, which provides medical help during disasters.
Lawmakers plan to push for answers Wednesday at a House Energy and Commerce
subcommittee hearing, part of continuing scrutiny into how the agency
polices conflicts of interest. Responding to congressional criticism, NIH
last year barred federal scientists from the once-common practice of earning
lucrative paychecks from private companies.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said he wants to know why it is taking so long to
resolve the case of Sunderland, a leading Alzheimer’s disease researcher
whose request to leave government service has been denied for two years.
“Where’s the accountability? Where’s the response?” Stupak said. “This
person should be dealt with severely.” He referred to allegations that
Sunderland improperly transferred human tissue samples from NIH patients to
the drug company Pfizer. “These people thought they were helping other
people, not some scientist profiting,” he said. Sunderland, through his
attorney, denies that his consulting payments from Pfizer were tied to
samples he provided in his government capacity.

The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is concerned about the
allegations against Sunderland and Walsh and “will take appropriate action
should wrongdoing be found,” said spokeswoman Christina Pearson. However she
cited “other reviews” of Sunderland that her agency must coordinate with.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, said the case points out deeper problems at NIH. “In spite of the
public changes that have been made at NIH, there really does not appear to
be a cultural change where the institution and the members of the
institution condemn the kind of behavior that apparently Dr. Sunderland has
exhibited. It’s really, really disappointing,” he said.

The subcommittee is expected to question NIH officials about documents
showing it approved several taxpayer-paid trips for Sunderland to attend
conferences and events in places like Hawaii and Toronto, even after
recommending his firing. Things changed last month when his superiors, a day
after assuring Sunderland the agency would soon negotiate his release,
suddenly restricted his access and activities and assigned him to
administrative duties, his lawyers said in a letter to the subcommittee.

NIH investigated 103 employees after revelations in 2004 that many had
failed to report their paid relationships with drug companies. Of the 44
alleged offenders, six left NIH before they could be punished and two had
offenses so minor they merited no sanction, Burklow said. The majority
received reprimands or warnings for failing to properly obtain approvals for
their outside consulting work, he said. Suspensions ranging from a week to
45 days were meted out to a few who did not get prior approval or did not
report their drug company ties, said Burklow.
Sunderland is under investigation by the HHS inspector general and the
Justice Department, officials have said. And a government official told AP
that Walsh, a prominent cancer researcher, is the other case the inspector
general is reviewing. The official requested anonymity because the
investigation is ongoing.
Reached at his NIH office on Monday, Walsh declined comment.

NIH ethics reports allege the two scientists had unauthorized, unreported
deals with drug companies – Sunderland earning more than $600,000 over eight
years for consulting and speeches and Walsh more than $100,000 in five years – and that their consulting improperly overlapped with government duties.
Lawyers for both scientists said in written defenses to NIH investigators
that the two put in exceptionally long hours at their government jobs, even
if the proper paperwork was missing for taking leave to perform outside
work.

Documents obtained by AP show Sunderland initially got a green light to
retire in November 2004 and he had his 11-year research project transferred
to a New York center where he planned to accept a prominent post. But NIH
officials subsequently recommended against his departure and the center now
is moving on to hire someone else.
Sunderland’s attorney Robert Muse cites a litany of mixed signals Sunderland
received from NIH, including months of refusal to meet after stating a
willingness to work out his release.
Burklow, citing privacy concerns, would not discuss any individual cases.

“The bureaucratic inaction,” Muse wrote the congressional subcommittee on
Monday, “has unreasonably interfered not only with Dr. Sunderland’s career
but also with his important Alzheimer’s research,” which he said cost the
government millions of dollars.

Some scientists whose consultancies were negatively highlighted in 2004
congressional hearings and press accounts left NIH voluntarily. They
suffered no repercussions.
Cancer researcher Lance Liotta said he retired in May 2005 with pension and
benefits, accepting “a great opportunity” in research at George Mason
University. His consulting activities, though questioned after the fact by
Congress, were approved at the time, and he never was sanctioned.

Another former researcher, 33-year NIH veteran Michael Brownstein, had held
nearly $2 million in stock with four companies whose boards he served on
while he worked at NIH. The agency approved the consulting and never accused
him of wrongdoing, said Brownstein, who continues his genetic research at
the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md.