Government Gets Tough With Scientists Who Do Research for Outside Companies

With a rare criminal case against a senior federal researcher, prosecutors are sending a message to scientists on the government payroll: Making money from companies on the side can land you in big trouble.A leading specialist in Alzheimer’s disease at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Trey Sunderland, found that there was no wiggle room in his outside work for a pharmaceutical company, even in a time when rules were far more lax than today.The U.S. attorney in Baltimore charged Dr. Sunderland, 55, with felony conflict of interest Monday for his private consulting with Pfizer Inc., which earned him $285,000 and improperly overlapped his official duties.Dr. Sunderland was researching early indicators of Alzheimer’s both as an NIH collaborator with Pfizer and a paid Pfizer consultant on work “directly related” to his government job, according to the court papers filed with U.S. District Court in Baltimore.The scientist failed to obtain the proper approvals from his supervisors or disclose the work to NIH as was required, the prosecutors said.Last year, NIH banned such outside work for drug and biotechnology companies following its own internal probe that was prompted by congressional investigations and disclosures in the Los Angeles Times. The probes showed that some researchers took advantage of a permissive environment that was designed to encourage public-private collaborations that might speed disease cures.Lucrative moonlighting was still allowed during Dr. Sunderland’s 1998–2003 deal with Pfizer, but the prosecutors allege his consulting gave him a financial interest in the work he did at taxpayer expense.“This should put other federal officials on notice that you can’t disregard the rules,” the president of the nonprofit Alliance for Human Research Protection, Vera Sharav, said.She and other critics contend that weak enforcement feeds conflicts even when ethics rules are in place.After NIH’s internal investigation, most of the 44 researchers found to have breached ethics rules got written or verbal reprimands or were permitted to retire. An agency survey found that many scientists consider the new rules so restrictive that they are considering leaving NIH.The felony charge against Dr. Sunderland, with a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine, was contained in a criminal information rather than indictment, a route that often precedes a plea deal.Dr. Sunderland did not return a telephone message, and his attorney, Robert Muse, declined comment Monday.He remains on the government payroll although he asked to retire after House investigators began unraveling his Pfizer financial ties two years ago.Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which launched the probe, called Monday for Dr. Sunderland’s dismissal from his post at the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health. Otherwise, Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat of Michigan, said in a statement, “We can only conclude that no one is being held accountable, the system is broken and the public trust has been violated.”“Will a criminal conviction for conflict of interest be enough to get someone fired from NIH?” Rep. John Dingell, also a Democrat of Michigan, said.NIH officials declined to comment.The court documents allege Dr. Sunderland participated as a government employee “in a particular matter in which, to the defendant’s knowledge, he had a financial interest.”The conflict began in 1998 when Dr. Sunderland was making arrangements for NIH to work with Pfizer on Alzheimer’s research. At the same time, he began negotiations to be a paid consultant on the same project, prosecutors allege.

Government Gets Tough With Scientists Who Do Research for Outside Companies

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