House Panel Holds Second
Hearing on NIH Conflicts of Interest
May 21, 2004 - The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee
on Oversight and Investigations held a May 18 follow-up hearing
to the May 12 hearing on NIH conflicts of interest that focused
on the ethics of receiving compensation for consulting with
private industry, receiving awards from grantee institutions,
the disclosure/reporting of such agreements, and the role
of the HHS ethics counsel in making recommendations regarding
acceptance of such activities [see
Washington Highlights, May 14]. Subcommittee Chairman
James Greenwood's (R-Pa.) opening statement made it clear
that these issues were going to be discussed in the context
of two specific cases: one where an FDA and NCI scientist
entered into a CRADA with a private company then also entered
into a compensated consulting agreement with a direct competitor
of the company in the CRADA; the other involved a former institute
director who received an award with a $40,000 stipend from
a grantee institution after receiving an opinion from the
HHS ethics counsel that such an arrangement could be technically
legal.
The Subcommittee members' opening statements
had very much the same tenor as the statements from the May
12 hearing. Full Committee ranking member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.)
opined that HHS ethics rules have not limited conflicts of
interest, but rather eased the way for them. He called it
a "dubious pattern of covering up conflicts of interest,
rather than preventing them." Full Committee Chairman
Joe Barton (D-Texas) again stated his intent that "this
committee will get what it needs to do its oversight."
He also noted that Dr. Zerhouni "discovered" the
ability to collect the information about drug company compensation
after the May 12 hearing and that NIH was working to deliver
that data to the subcommittee. Mr. Barton said he wanted the
hallmark of his chairmanship to be holding agencies responsible.
Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) stated her deep concerns with
the Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations and asked if NIH had
trouble recruiting and retaining the best scientists before
the rules allowing outside activities were put in place. She
went further to say that they should consider completely banning
outside agreements unless it could be proven that the science
would be seriously damaged.
The majority of oral statements and question and answers
dealt with the process by which NIH scientists gain ethics
opinions before accepting cash awards or undertaking compensated
outside consulting agreements. Edgar Swindell, associate general
counsel in the Ethics Division at the Department of Health
and Human Services, received the brunt of the questioning,
testifying that he was directed to produce ethics opinions
that addressed the strict legality of certain circumstances
and did not address the appearance of conflicts. Harold Varmus,
M.D., former director of the NIH and currently president and
chief executive officer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center, testified that the lifting of the ban on institute
directors and other staff receiving awards and participating
in outside consulting activities was partially, but not entirely,
responsible for the improvement of the reputation of the NIH
intramural over the 1990s. Rep. DeGette expressed her disbelief
that a ban on outside activities would hinder the quality
of science at NIH. Chairman Greenwood questioned Dr. Varmus
about the use of Title 42 to increase the salary of certain
NIH employees, a practice begun while Dr. Varmus was director
of the agency. Dr. Varmus seemed surprised at the large number
of employees currently employed under Title 42 (estimated
by Chairman Greenwood at 4,000) but stated he had received
a general counsel opinion that it was a legal interpretation
of the statute.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Jonathan Fishburn, Director, Research, Education and Veterans' Legislative Affairs
AAMC Government Relations
jfishburn@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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