Fresh signs are appearing that indicate lawmakers will agree to relax the conflict-of-interest rules that have been hampering the FDA's ability to recruit experts for crucially important advisory committees. A congressional staffer tells Reuters there's a good chance that the issue will be addressed in the final FDA user fee bill. The agency reports that there are vacancies on about one in four of their committees, which vote on whether or not a drug should be approved. The agency moved to prevent experts with financial ties to drug companies following the scandal over Vioxx. Story