[HSI] NIH Employees Paid Secret Consulting Fees From Pharma- Even Millions

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Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

 

December 29, 2003

 

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Dear Reader,

 

They did it again. Just when I get to the point where I think

I've seen it all, they raise the bar to a new height of

absurdity.

 

" They " in this case is the mainstream medical establishment in

general, and the drug industry specifically. And this time it's

a doozy. If you think drug company influence has a long reach,

wait till you hear this one.

 

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Can of worms deluxe

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When you see the terms " secret consultancy fees " and " drug

companies " mentioned in the same article, you know it's time to

fasten your seat belts. But this time it goes way beyond fees

paid to individual doctors. This time the fee recipients are

highly placed officials with the National Institutes of Health

(NIH).

 

Hats off to David Willman, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning

reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who recently concluded a

five-year investigation of the inner workings of the NIH. Mr.

Willman's article reveals that hundreds of thousands of dollars

of drug company consulting fees have been paid to top NIH

officials who oversee the clinical trials of drugs.

 

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Wait. It gets worse.

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Willman cites a 1998 legal opinion that provides a loophole by

which more than 90 percent of NIH officials are allowed to keep

their consulting income confidential. In addition, many of them

sign confidentiality agreements with the companies from whom

they receive fees and corporate stock options.

 

If there were ever a situation tailor-made for conflict of

interest, this would be it.

 

An LA Times survey of more than 30 other federal agencies

revealed that the NIH had the lowest percentage of employees

filing reports of " consulting " income. In many of those agencies

ALL of the most well paid officials submitted public reports.

Mr. Willman concludes that in the area of financial disclosures,

the NIH is " one of the most secretive agencies in the federal

government. "

 

But wait. It gets even worse.

 

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Consulting we will go

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To understand the trust that has been violated by the NIH's

easy-does-it attitude toward consulting fees, Mr. Willman

highlights one case in particular.

 

In an NIH study of a drug to treat kidney inflammation related

to lupus, one of the subjects receiving the drug died of a

complication that was believed to be related to the drug. But

the senior NIH official connected to the study didn't stop the

study, nor did he attempt to warn the medical community of the

potential danger of the drug.

 

That official was a paid consultant for the company that

produced the drug. And in the past 10 years, he received well

over half a million dollars in consulting fees from various drug

companies and biomedical firms.

 

And he wasn't alone. According to the LA Times article, among

his many colleagues who provided consulting services, one of

them has accepted almost $1.5 million in fees.

 

Gee. He must be a REALLY good consultant.

 

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Once upon a time...

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During the Reagan era, Margaret Heckler (the secretary of Health

and Human Services, which is the agency that oversees NIH)

called NIH " an island of objective and pristine research,

untainted by the influences of commercialization. "

 

Ah, those were the days!

 

In 2003 the NIH comprises 27 individual institutes, more than

18,000 employees, an annual budget of almost $28 billion this

fiscal year, and a very protective bureaucracy.

 

When Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein (the NIH deputy director who

approved many of the consulting arrangements) was asked about

the results of the Willman investigation, she told the LA Times

that NIH staff members are " highly ethical " and have " enormous

integrity. " She admitted that systems can be " tightened up, " and

said that, " perhaps, based on this, we will do so. "

 

Wow. Sounds like Dr. Kirschstein is going to go all out!

 

And last month, NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni announced that he

would study the situation by forming a committee.

 

Well, well, well... a committee! Now that IS impressive! What

next? A memo?