NIH This Time...

Science magazine (July 4, vol 321, p 25) reports : "Congressional appropriators want . . . NIH Director Elias Zerhouni to stiffen his agency's oversight of the financial ties between academic scientists and pharmaceutical companies. . . . Last week the Senate spending panel ordered NIH's parent body, the Department of Health and Human Services, to begin the process of rewrtiting regulations meant to avoid financial conflicts of interest among nonfederal scientists. Grantees now must report to their institutions relevant income from any company exceeding $10,000 annually. (NIH intramural scientists are banned from receiving all such income) . . . Senator Charles Grassley (R-iA) . . . is investigating several cases in which academic researchers may have failed to report income from drug companies. . . . "