Grassley, Kohl work to protect biomedical research funding from potential bias

WASHINGTON- Senators Chuck Grassley and Herb Kohl today put forward legislation
that would take steps to better protect federally funded biomedical research from possible bias.

The legislation, filed as an amendment to the economic recovery bill being debated in the
Senate, would place new requirements on institutions receiving grants from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH awards almost $24 billion annually in grants for biomedical
research. The economic stimulus bill increases that largesse by billions of dollars.

The senators' amendment would require the NIH to make two changes to the way it is
already supposed to manage conflicts of interest, according to federal regulation.

The Grassley-Kohl amendment would require the NIH to actively enforce its conflict of
interest policies and respond in a timely manner when those policies have been violated by
grantees.

The amendment also would require the following information to be given to the NIH by
grantees receiving NIH in excess of $250,000:

a. The amount of the primary investigator’s significant financial interest, estimated to the
nearest one thousand dollars

b. A detailed report on how the grantee institution will manage the primary investigator’s
conflict of interest.

“The goal of this initiative is to establish transparency and the accountability that comes
from disclosure. It’s become clear that the federal rules in place to manage conflicts of interest
in research aren’t enforced as they ought to be, and there’s an opportunity to strengthen them
here, as well,” Grassley said. “The public has a lot at stake with medical research. With our
doctors, we make medical decisions based on scientific research and taxpayers commit a lot of
money for this work.”

“NIH grants are highly competitive. The government has a right to know whether the
scientists it funds have a financial stake in the outcome of their research,” said Kohl.
Grassley is Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance. Kohl is Chairman of
the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

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