"[P]eople acting in a group can accomplish things which no individual acting alone could even hope to bring about." - FDR

News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

NIH to Review Contractor's Work on Bisphenol A

Last week, the National Institutes of Health officially ended its relationship with Sciences International, a private consulting firm. As OMB Watch has reported, SI had essentially been managing an NIH group studying reproductive health. The consultant's research and summaries of a particular chemical, bisphenol A, exhibited industry bias. Subsequently, SI became the focal point of a controversy over scientific contractors and conflicts of interest.

Now, NIH will review all the work SI performed related to bisphenol A (The Washington Post reports ). This is a welcome step by NIH. Without such oversight, SI would have been able to affect scientific decisions through previously prepared documents despite having been fired.