One panelist, Dorothy K. Robinson, who also is general counsel at Yale University, said that, generally, NIH's "rules on conflict of interest are really too narrowly defined." The rules, she said, employ "very tight words or phrases of art and do not capture appearances that are quite problematic." An NIH document reciting Robinson's comments was obtained by The Times.
Another panelist, Stephen D. Potts, a former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, encouraged his colleagues to recommend wider public financial disclosure. In an e-mail on March 18 he said, "I learned at OGE that sunshine is the best disinfectant and saves taxpayer dollars because less will have to be spent to identify violators. The press and the public do a remarkably good job."
Potts added that The Times articles "did expose abuses and, if the conduct described cannot be sanctioned under existing rules, the rules should be amended to proscribe the conduct."
Zerhouni has called repeatedly over the last five months for greater "transparency" in the NIH's handling of conflict of interest. He appointed the panel to recommend any policy changes it deemed necessary. But the panel's proceedings were carried out mostly behind closed doors.
The panel met privately at NIH offices in Bethesda, Md., on seven occasions, from March 1 through April 28. It convened meetings during parts of four days that were open to the public.
Directors of some NIH research centers or institutes voiced concern about whether information they provided to the panel could be subjected to public release, according to the internal documents. Moreover, Zerhouni's top subordinates were given opportunities to privately review and comment upon the committee's draft recommendations, the internal documents show. The drafts were circulated by scientific policy advisors within Zerhouni's office, whom he had assigned to assist the panel.
A spokesman for Zerhouni, John Burklow, said that the director's staff "only provided information as requested" to the panel. "They asked us to review the report for accuracy," Burklow said.
One of Zerhouni's top aides, Dr. Michael M. Gottesman, told the panel that the NIH's scientific mission could be undermined if all agency scientists were banned from paid consulting for drug companies. "I addressed the general issue of what might be lost to the NIH and the public if all NIH scientists were not allowed to consult with private industry and academia," Gottesman said in an interview.
