The National Institutes of Health has decided to back off earlier demands that its employees divest themselves of all drug stocks in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Scientists can also once again accept speaking fees and pay for serving on data monitoring boards provided the money is paid through an intermediary organization. NIH, though, says their revised ethics rules still ban direct consulting fees from drug companies.
The revised ethics rules follow a fierce protest from many of the scientists who work at NIH, who said that they were being unfairly punished by the stock restrictions. The NIH devised the rules after learning that drug companies had been paying scientists millions of dollars in fees, raising the charge that their research into drugs was being influenced by the payments.
- read this story from the Los Angeles Times for more