AIC Institutes An Award To Foster Ethics Within Chemical Profession

The ethics of scientific conduct, once rarely discussed publicly, lately has merited the attention of groups as diverse as national newspapers, professional associations, and Congress. Much of this attention has been negative. With such causes c‚l`bres as the 1989 and 1990 convictions of Food and Drug Administration scientists for accepting gifts from companies whose products they were investigating and the case of psychologist Stephen E. Breuning, found in 1987 by a National Institute of Mental Health panel to have falsified research results, scientific integrity has been taking something of a beating in the public eye. In response, at least one group is attempting to change the negative perceptions. And instead of merely reacting to malfeasance, the American Institute of Chemists, based in Bethesda, Md., is trying to promote positive behavior. In May, the 4,500-member association will present the first AIC Ethics Award, dedicated, an AIC statement says, to recognizing "outstanding contributions to ethics in the chemical profession" (Funding Briefs, The Scientist, Sept. 3, 1990, page 22). Fred Ordway, chairman of the AIC Ethics Committee, says that the idea emerged from an award given in April 1989 by the New Jersey Institute of Chemists (a local branch of the AIC) to James E. Burke, the former chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, N.J., recognizing Burke's behavior in the now-legendary Tylenol tampering crisis. "He removed his product from the market without hesitation," Ordway says, "at great cost to the company." Thus, at a time when the chemical industry was criticized for its susceptibility to tampering, it was also showing that during a crisis it would act responsibly and ethically. This is precisely the message AIC would like to send to the public--that ethics is not a secondary issue to chemists, that it is central to the scientific process. "The idea," Ordway says, "was to recognize and encourage people who contributed to professional ethics, just as the institute has customarily honored people who made noteworthy advances in chemistry." AIC was established in 1923 to advance the chemical profession in the United States; to establish and enforce professional standards and practice for the profession; and to promote the professional, social, and economic interests of its members. Ethics has always been important to the association, Ordway says, noting that the institute "has had a code of ethics since the '20s." But before the creation of the award, the ethics committee chairman says, "there hadn't been any institutionalized way to embody that interest." The first ethics award will be presented at AIC's annual meeting, to be held in May in Baltimore. The honor will be given "at most annually [and may skip a year at times]," Ordway says. "We didn't see any reason to be certain that there'd be a nominee to justify the award in any given year." The only cash accompanying the award will be $500, which Ordway expects will go toward "the travel cost of attending the meeting at which the award is given; I don't suppose it's a great financial incentive." The money will be provided by Joseph B. Hyman, the New Jersey chemist who supplied the funds for the 1989 New Jersey award. Recipients will address the meeting on a topic of their choice. Nominations for the award, now being reviewed by the 10-member AIC Ethics Committee, were "just as open as possible," Ordway says. That is, neither the nominees nor those doing the nominating were required to be AIC members. Indeed, it was not even necessary for them to be chemists. Says Ordway, "The basic requirement [was] that the chemistry field be involved--[the winner] could be someone who was or was not a chemist as long as it reflects an admirable example for other chemists." Thus, the award could honor a lab director, a chemist, a marketing staffer--anyone who, in the words of the AIC statement, "performs duties dictated by ethical considerations in the face of difficulties for the benefit of the public or workers in chemistry." While the award could go to anyone from a whistle-blower exposing faulty data to a lab director promoting responsible practices, Ordway would like to see more of the latter: "We're hoping to achieve a heightened consciousness of the importance of professional ethics, first of all so that there will be fewer of these incidents that come to the public attention as examples of `un-ethics,' but, second, so that people understand that those examples are very, very rare--that there is a profession here that has high ethical standards, whose practices can be relied upon." An organization with the same goal is the National Institutes of Health's Office of Scientific Integrity, whose deputy director, Suzanne Hadley, agrees with Ordway. "Frankly, I would like to see an award like this used not only for [whistle-blowers], but for people who promote responsible science," Hadley says. "It's not just a question of being passive and letting that happen. You have to train young scientists: You have to let them know that they are responsible for providing good data, data that can be counted on." To this end, the Office of Scientific Integrity, founded in mid-1989, has published Guidelines for the Conduct of Research at the National Institutes of Health. Says Hadley, "Within the biomedical research field, there has been particular concern in the last few years over how well we were handling [ethics] matters ourselves." Thus, she says, "the idea of an award for individuals who exemplify integrity is an idea we would welcome. I think [the award] is less important for anything tangible than it is as a statement of priorities." And Ordway agrees. Trying to establish an honor system involves heading into what he calls an "uncharted field," and he welcomes the challenge. And as these guidelines and awards become more common, says Ordway, scientists can perhaps remember that their profession requires them to "put ethics on the same level as noteworthy accomplishments of other kinds." Scott Huler is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

AIC Institutes An Award To Foster Ethics Within Chemical Profession

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