Walter Stewart and Ned Feder, the two NIH scientific misconduct researchers whose work was effectively ended by an involuntary job reassignment, appear to be making headway in their fight to be reinstated. The pair are on paid administrative leave for now- -rather than working at their new assignments--while HHS general counsel Harriet Rabb reviews the case. Stewart expects a proposal soon from Rabb's office identifying situations within NIH whereby they might be able to continue some still-to-be-negotiated approach to their misconduct studies. In a letter to Rabb, Sen. David Pryor (D-Ark.) asked whether research into scientific misconduct was useful in supporting the missions of NIH and HHS, and, if so, whether Stewart and Feder had contributed to the understanding of it. Rabb, in a response, wrote that Stewart ...
