Originally published March 7 2005
National Institutes of Health director stands firm on new ethics guidelines
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Senior National Institutes of Health scientists met recently with NIH director Elias Zerhouni to discuss concerns that new ethics guidelines are excessive. Zerhouni stood firm on the new rules, while sympathizing with the grievances of affected scientists, according to press accounts. Among other provisions, the new rules forbid 6,000 top NIH employees from holding stock in pharmaceutical or biotech companies. This rule, of course, drives the employees crazy. They are demanding the right to invest in the same companies that are affected by their research.
NIH Director Elias Zerhouni on Thursday met with senior-level agency scientists -- many of whom have criticized NIH's "sweeping new ethics regulations" -- and "defended the rules" while being "sympathetic to their grievances," the Baltimore Sun reports.
The rules, announced Feb. 1, would restrict the ability of NIH employees to enter outside consulting agreements with pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, health insurers and health care providers.
The revised guidelines also would mandate that about 6,000 top NIH employees cannot hold stock in pharmaceutical or biotech companies and require current stockholders in the group to sell their shares.
Alternative Rules Researchers at the meeting provided Zerhouni with the "loose outlines" of an alternative set of ethics guidelines, after saying the government's proposed restrictions "will hurt the agency's ability to recruit and retain top scientists," the Sun reports.
The alternate rules would exempt NIH employees who are not institute directors, clinical directors and officials with significant authority at the agency from some restrictions on consulting agreements and stock ownership.
Meeting Comments According to the Sun, Zerhouni at the meeting "repeatedly urged" researchers to express their criticisms of the revised guidelines to HHS, which wrote the regulations along with the Office of Government Ethics.
Cynthia Dunbar, senior investigator at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said, "No promises were made by [Zerhouni] to us," but added, "He clearly understood our position and clearly has many of the same concerns.
I got the impression he really does want to work with us.
Michael Gottesman, deputy director for intramural research at NIH, said the comments from scientists "will be collected, and those that are valid will have some impact on the regulations"
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