Posted on 03/07/2024 11:18:30 AM PST by RandFan
Over the past decade, scientists working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have earned an estimated $400 million in royalties from third-party companies for medical treatments and innovations they've helped produce. The NIH often provides grants to these same companies and produces research on their products. Despite that, the agency has resisted disclosing how much its scientists are getting paid and by whom.
A bill moving its way through Congress would change that.
On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the Royalty Transparency Act of 2024 by a 12–0 vote.
The legislation would require that royalties received by federal government employees be included in their financial disclosures and that those disclosures be made available online for the general public to view.
"This is just basic 101 of conflict of interest. We're letting the billions of dollars that change hands over at NIH and between NIH and Big Pharma to be completely unscrutinized," says Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.), the author of the legislation. "This is probably the first reform bill that actually has a chance to correct some of the things that are rotten in the system."
The NIH's lack of transparency about the royalties paid to its scientists has been a source of controversy for decades.
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
WOOO!
Sorry for caps. I got excited....
Yes. A good idea. Yet...let’s say it passes and becomes law. What happens when it is ignored and it’s simply business as usual? You know...just like all the other laws against conflict of interest that are ignored.
works for me.
Exactly! The only way not to have corruption is not to have an NIH.
There should ALSO be a full-disclosure requirement of all the cash and financial asset inflows and outflows of all Congress persons. If it is not provided said Congress person should be suspended from office and all privileges of office until he/it/she comes into compliance.
I know, but dream BIG!
Another example of Rand Paul’s common sense proposals. Most people have no idea how many ideas and solutions he’s proposed. He is one of the few presidential candidates I backed. Most are do-nothing empty suits whose skills are limited to glad handing ignorant voters.
The entire royalty situation stinks. A person who is salaried by the government should not be earning any money from third parties whom they also have any regulatory relationship with. The conflict is so grievous as to bring up who does this “scientist” work for? The taxpayers or some third party? Why does this government scientist spend his / her working day creating work for a third party? If there is not enough government work to do then there salary should be zero, and they can go to work full time at this other company.
Rand is always on the right side of an issue.
amazing these laws don’t already exist.
The entire royalty situation stinks.
*/
. yup
it also has an evil twin
the patent situation.
Sorry, but such royalties should be banned outright.
Wait a da^& minute...they use public facilities, stocked with public equipment, to do research and development that under ANY OTHER circumstance, any where else in the world, would be contractually proprietary to the owners of the business and equipment-which in this case is We the People...and Congress, OUR elected representatives, have let this situation develop.
Neither Congress nor the NIH “scientists/scamists” are sufficiently respectful or fearful of their employers.
Agreed.
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