NIH Rebuffed, Rethinks New Ethics Regulations

Following a storm of criticism, HHS chief Sullivan asks for another plan to stem conflicts of interest. WASHINGTON--As soon as he read them, James Wyngaarden knew that there would be problems. The former National Institutes of Health director expected the agency to propose guidelines to eliminate potential conflicts of interest by government-funded university scientists who are carrying out clinical trials. But instead of directing a surgical strike against questionable financial relationships

Written byJeffrey Mervis

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Following a storm of criticism, HHS chief Sullivan asks for another plan to stem conflicts of interest.

WASHINGTON--As soon as he read them, James Wyngaarden knew that there would be problems. The former National Institutes of Health director expected the agency to propose guidelines to eliminate potential conflicts of interest by government-funded university scientists who are carrying out clinical trials. But instead of directing a surgical strike against questionable financial relationships among that group of researchers, NIH had issued a sweeping proposal that shocked and angered nearly every segment of the biomedical community (The Scientist, Oct. 16, 1989, page 1).

"I was astounded," says Wyngaarden, who left NIH six weeks before the guidelines were issued on September 15 and is now associate director for life sciences at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. "I called Bill Raub right away," says Wyngaarden, referring to his former deputy and ...

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