A three-member panel from the Institute of Medicine, in a December report, concluded that one of the AIDS laboratory units had suffered from poor scientific management, low morale and productivity, and a lack of clear research goals. The AIDS lab was created in 1983, when knowledge about the disease was scant, and virologists were given great leeway in their research.
Problems arose, said CDC Director James Mason, as researchers both inside and outside the Centers began to learn more about the disease. That new information led to a narrowing of the scope of the work at CDC.
"Our forte is epidemiological work, and the laboratory becomes a support service," Mason said. "That's not the role these people were interested in." Half of the dozen scientists who have worked in the lab have left or been transferred.
The Institute of Medicine investigation was formed in response to a request from Sen. ...
