Trouble brewing at NIH agency
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences faces inquiries as NIEHS scientists voice lack of confidence in director

According to an Email from Grassley's spokesperson, NIH has not provided a "complete response" to the allegations outlined in the two letters.
In response to an Email to Zerhouni requesting comment, an NIH spokesperson told The Scientist, "Most of the concerns that have been raised recently were identified and corrective actions were taken internally by the NIH Office of the Director prior to Congressional inquiries. Our conflict of interest policies, which were overhauled and strengthened in February 2005, are stringent and clear. All Directors must submit a signed affidavit that says they received them, understand them, and agree with them." The senior NIEHS researcher interviewed by The Scientist said that ethical problems extend all the way to the top of the NIH hierarchy. "The things that Dr. Schwartz did, he got approval for," the researcher said. More legislators, including Henry Waxman (D-CA), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and John Dingell (D-MI), are now requesting further documents from the embattled Schwartz.Bob Grant mail@the-scientist.comLinks within this article:David Schwartz http://www.niehs.nih.gov/od/NIEHS Assembly of Scientists http://dir.niehs.nih.gov/aos/C. Shekhar, "Environmental Health Perspectives faces cuts," The Scientist, August 2006. http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/24245/Charles Grassley http://grassley.senate.gov/public/United States Senate Committee on Finance http://www.senate.gov/~finance/Samuel Wilson http://www.niehs.nih.gov/ododd/wilson.htmT. Agres, "Elias A. Zerhouni," The Scientist, July 2002. http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/13166/June 21, 2007 letter from Grassley to Zerhouni http://www.senate.gov/~finance/press/Gpress/2007/prg062707.pdf
July 25, 2007 letter from Grassley to Zerhouni http://www.senate.gov/~finance/press/Gpress/2007/prg073007b.pdf
August 20, 2007 letter from Grassley to Zerhouni http://www.senate.gov/~finance/press/Gpress/2007/prg082107.pdfThe Form http://www.senate.gov/~finance/press/Gpress/2007/prg082107a.pdf
T. Agres, "NIH's conflicting interests," The Scientist, December 2004. http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15151Henry Waxman http://www.henrywaxman.house.govDennis Kucinich http://kucinich.house.govJohn Dingell http://www.house.gov/dingell/

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From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer.View full profile