Congress to Probe Policies at NIH

A bipartisan group asks the health agency for details of a researcher's ties to drug companies to assess its conflict-of-interest guidelines.

By David Willman, Times Staff Writer
August 10, 2006

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of congressional leaders has asked the director of the National Institutes of Health to provide details of a senior researcher's ties to several pharmaceutical companies.

The congressional leaders, including the Republican chairman and the ranking Democrat of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in their letter that they wanted the details in order to evaluate conflict-of-interest policies at the NIH. They requested a response by week's end.