Leavitt Looks at NIH Curbs

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said Tuesday that he was reviewing -- and might soften -- a strict new conflict-of-interest policy that had led to complaints from some scientists at the National Institutes of Health.

“There have been concerns raised,” Leavitt told reporters during a question-and-answer session in his office. “We are in the process now of analyzing those comments, and then we’ll make a judgment.”

He compared the NIH ethics policy to a metal detector that had been calibrated to its most sensitive setting for a major public event: That would guarantee safety, but it could also create delays as people lined up to empty their pockets.

“Within a relatively short time, we’ll determine whether the magnetometer has to be notched down a click,” said Leavitt, referring to the NIH policy.

The new rules were announced this year by Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, the NIH’s director, after news reports and congressional investigations documented instances in which agency scientists accepted large consulting fees from drug companies, sometimes without getting required approval in advance.

The new rules ban scientists from taking any compensation from the biomedical industry. They also prohibit about 7,000 senior employees from owning stock in individual medical companies and limit such holdings to $15,000 for all other employees.

The ban on stock ownership has been sharply criticized within the NIH. A group called the Assembly of Scientists, which is seeking to overturn the new rules, has warned that the policy will lead to an exodus of talented researchers.

To help make its case to Congress and the administration, the group has retained a law and lobbying firm that also represents some pharmaceutical companies.

NIH officials say they are considering whether to soften the requirements on stock ownership. Agency scientists have until Oct. 3 to sell their holdings.

“We intend to create an atmosphere of utmost faith and fidelity in the conducting of scientific research,” Leavitt said of his policy review. “We do not intend to back away from the commitment that we have made to conduct business [at the NIH] in a way that assures integrity.”