National Institute of Health researcher Dr. Trey Sunderland will be prosecuted for conflict of interest. The charge stems from an investigation that revealed Sunderland failed to report to the NIH $285,000 in fees he received from Pfizer. "The services he performed for [Pfizer]--including providing hundreds of spinal-tap samples prized for potential genetic clues that might help develop a treatment for Alzheimer's disease--were intertwined with his government duties," reports the Los Angeles Times. The inquiry began after a fellow researcher became suspicious when she discovered that many of the spinal-tap samples she had collected from patients were missing. This marks the first time in 14 years that an NIH official has been charged with this crime.
- read this Los Angeles Times article [1]
Related Articles:
NIH official implicated in scandal. Report [2]
"Let he who is without conflict-of-interest cast the first stone." Editorial [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nih5dec05,1,6190589.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
[2] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/nih-official-implicated-in-scandal/2006-06-13
[3] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/editor-s-corner/2006-09-15