NIH About to Backtrack?

National Institutes of Health director Elias Zerhouni today indicated he plans to scale back the agency's strict conflict of interest rules.

Zerhouni issued those rules last February in the wake of revelations that dozens of its top scientists had earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug and biotechnology companies while on the government payroll. The new rules prohibited agency scientists from accepting consulting deals, speaking gigs and stock grants from the private sector.

Zerhouni's comments came at an online forum sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation. When asked about the agency's commitment to the new rule by moderator Jackie Judd, Zerhouni said: "There are good reasons to have interactions with the private sector." Where would he now draw the line? "No promoting, marketing, or endorsing products or even giving advice without disclosing what those interests are."

Hmmm. That seems to be a disclosure standard, not a ban. If so, this would be a total cave in to the Assembly of Scientists, a group of NIH scientists opposed to the tough new rules. Zerhouni, responding to an audience question, gave no timetable for lifting the temporary ban. Zerhouni trotted out the standard reasons for lifting the ban -- that it is needed to recruit top scientists and that close collaboration is needed to translate scientific insight into medical cures.

But this explanation falls apart upon closer scrutiny. "Even under the current rules, we allow interaction with the private sector . . . transparently," he said. He was referring to the rules governing Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, which the agency signs with industry. But under those agreements, any reimbursements go to NIH, not the scientist involved. Moreover, no scientist can work on a CRADA where his own invention, assigned to NIH and licensed to a private firm, is involved. NIH scientists can earn up to $150,000 in royalties from inventions made on the government payroll.

When asked directly if he planned to reopen the doors to outside consulting or speaking gigs where the scientists get to pad their government salaries, Zerhouni dodged the question.