This week, the federal government is releasing the final version of long-awaited transparency rules to disclose the financial ties between medical researchers who receive billions of dollars in federal funding and the pharmaceutical industry. On Aug. 4, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa urged the government not to dilute the rules. Grassley’s prior oversight uncovered several instances of such financial relationships that were not public. Grassley’s letter to the Office of Management and Budget came in response to a media report that the agency was removing the requirement in the proposed rule for a publicly available website that would publish the outside financial interests of researchers funded by taxpayers. The final rules include the diluted, weak requirement: Information about an individual with a significant financial interest in the subject of a federally funded research project must be disclosed via a publicly accessible website or via written response to any requestor within five business days. Grassley made the following comment on the final rules.
“Making the method of disclosure optional hurts public access. An institution that doesn’t want to disclose information readily will be able to opt for the written request, knowing that requiring a request in writing is a barrier. It’s easier to look up information online than have to find the right addressee, write the letter, and wait for a response. This is a missed opportunity to inject transparency where it’s really needed. With less public scrutiny than we could have had, we’ll lose a valuable layer of oversight. This is ironic, coming from an Administration that pledged more transparency in government. Transparency requires action, not just words.”
The final rules are available here.
The text of Grassley’s Aug. 4 letter is available here.
The text of Grassley’s Aug. 4 news release is available here.