Ethics Rules Have Mixed Impact On NIH Researchers

Five years after NIH tightened its ethics rules, collaborations between NIH scientists and industry have decreased, NIH service on advisory boards has declined, and the majority of NIH scientists say the rules are too restrictive, according to a study in the November issue of Academic Medicine (2010, 85, 1685). The study also finds, however, that research productivity at NIH, in terms of patents and publications, has not been affected by the rules and that nearly half of NIH scientists believe the rules have increased the public’s trust in NIH. The mixed effect of the rules suggests that NIH has achieved some balance with the policy, but some observers say the negative consequences of the rules outweigh the positive. “In addition to reducing morale and possibly hampering recruitment of new staff, the conflict-of-interest regulations may lead to isolation of the NIH intramural scientists from the broader scientific community,” says William T. Talman, president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. In a commentary accompanying the study, NIH officials point out that cooperative R&D agreements between NIH researchers and industry have returned to previous levels after a drop in 2006.