New Rules at NIC Ban Outside Consulting

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New rules prohibiting outside consulting arrangements by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIC) have been welcomed by some scientists, with the agency's director saying that the group has "said that they needed this."

The rules, recently announced by director, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, ban consulting arrangements by scientists at the agency and pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

Dr. Sheldon Krimsky, a researcher at Tufts University who specializes in science policy and ethics, said the changes were welcome, albeit overdue.

"Imagine if someone working for one of the economic agencies of government made a deal with a company involved in forecasting and gave them privileged access to government data," Dr. Krimsky said. "It would have never flown, but somehow biomedical scientists got away with it."

Under the new rules, NIH scientists will be banned form working in either a paid or unpaid capacity for drug and biotech companies, health care providers, insurers, trade associations and educational institutions that apply for money from the agency.

The rules will also ban top scientists from owing shares in drug or biotech companies. Lower-level employees will be able to own as much as $15,000 in company shares. Gifts of greater than $200 will be banned. Scientists will be prohibited from accepting many academic prizes.

"Nothing is more important than preserving the public trust," Dr. Zerhouni said.

Among the cases that Dr. Zerhouni has condemned is that of Dr. Bryan Brewer Jr., chief of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's molecular disease branch. In 2003, Dr. Brewer wrote an article promoting the benefits of Crestor®, a cholesterol-lowering drug from AstraZeneca.

The article was published in a medical journal "supplement" paid for by AstraZeneca, and Dr. Brewer's NIH title was prominently displayed. The article failed to mention potentially serious safety problems with Crestor®. Dr. Zerhouni has described Dr. Brewer's Crestor® article as "a product-driven endorsement."

Cases like Dr. Brewer's were revealed in a series in the Los Angeles Times as well as in hearings held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The committee's investigation uncovered 30 to 40 NIH scientists who were consulting for drug and biotech companies but who had failed to inform the agency or get permission for these arrangements.

Dr. Zerhouni said the rules would remain in effect until the agency decided to change them. But some said that such a change was unlikely in the foreseeable future.

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