An National Institutes of Health researcher indicted on ethics rules violations is still employed despite investigations by multiple agencies into alleged ethics violations in his government medical research.
“At this point, the NIH hasn?t put out any statement on this because it?s a pending personnel matter,” agency spokesman Don Ralbovsky said. “He?s still an employee of the NIH; he?s still assigned as he always was as a researcher with the National Institutes of Mental Health.”
Researcher Trey Sunderland, 55, of Chevy Chase was charged “with conflict of interest relating to his acceptance of $285,000 in consulting fees and additional travel expenses from a drug company without the required approval of and disclosure to National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials,” according to a “federal criminal information” filed by U.S. District Attorney Rod Rosenstein.
The filing alleges Sunderland served as a consultant to Pfizer Inc., on Alzheimer?s projects the pharmaceutical company had pending before Sunderland?s division of NIH.
This summer, the Committee on Energy and Commerce chaired by Congressman Joe Barton, R-Texas, attacked Sunderland for allegedly selling spinal fluid samples to Pfizer that were obtained from patients in federally-funded medical trials.
“Dr. Sunderland has invoked his rights under the 5th Amendment in order to avoid telling Congress about his work, and is believed to be the first NIH scientist in history to do so,” Barton said in a blistering Sept. 13 attack on the ethics policies at NIH.
The sale of the fluid samples and other information also was noted in the U.S. Attorney?s filling.
Johns Hopkins spokesman Gary Stephenson said their institution has vigorous ethics policies requiring researchers to report any holdings or benefits that may conflict with projects they are working on. These conflicts are always reported with breaking news about medical findings.
Hopkins researchers doing work funded by the NIH are not allowed to patent any findings, Stephenson said.
“There?s a very well-developed, well-defined process to make sure that these relationships are appropriate, legal and ethical,” he said.
