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Thursday, December 23, 2004Today, Los Angeles Times reporter David Willman writes that at least 530 NIH scientists have been paid large consulting fees, or been given stock or stock options by biomedical companies during the past five years. Willman, who revealed the extent of industry ties to NIH scientists a year ago, continues his investigation of the outside business arrangements. Among those he cites:: Dr. P. Trey Sunderland III, a senior psychiatric researcher, took $508,050 in fees and related income from Pfizer Inc. at the same time that he collaborated with Pfizer -- in his government capacity -- in studying patients with Alzheimer's disease. Without declaring his affiliation with the company, Sunderland endorsed the use of an Alzheimer's drug marketed by Pfizer during a nationally televised presentation at the NIH in 2003. Such collaborations are encouraged by the NIH, writes Willman, although the extent of the private arrangements apparently came as a surprise to NIH director Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni. In response to Congressional critics earlier this year, Zerhouni said that he supported tighter restrictions on outside employment. Yet the U.S. Office of Government Ethics "found that 40 percent of the 155 outside payments to NIH employees it sampled randomly had not been approved or accounted for within the agency," Willman reports. posted by Sydney on 12/23/2004 09:03:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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