Senior researcher Pearson Sunderland working for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was charged yesterday with allegations of violating government principles by simultaneously working for a private drug firm without prior approval.
He is alleged to have been paid $250,000 plus traveling compensation for the same, from drug maker Pfizer Inc over the period of 1997-2004.
His trial has sparked off major investigations in the NIH following which 44 other research scientists have been found to engage in research assignments outside the NIH, directly in line with their government duties.
Another violation that Sunderland committed was the transfer of hundreds of government owned tissue samples to Pfizer, though NIH has not charged him for this offense. The samples were of human spinal-tap which are believed to contain genetic clues toward the development of a drug by Pfizer to treat Alzheimer's disease. For the charges filed against him termed "criminal information" indicating a potential plea Sunderland faces up to a year in prison and $100,000 as fine.
The news of the researcher's breach of public trust has prompted several officials to call for him being fired from the NIH. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) for instance, emphatically believes that Sunderland's continued office within the NIH signifies that the system is broken and public trust has been violated. Don Ralbovsky, from the NIH, has confirmed that Sunderland continues to be employed as a "special assistant and senior adviser" in the funds division. The Geriatric Psychiatry Branch that he earlier headed has been shut down.
Although Sunderland's lawyer Robert F. Muse refused to comment on yesterday's charge, he has previously maintained that his client had not attempted to conceal his outside work. Further, he added that many NIH researchers considered disclosure forms as "basically a bureaucratic nuisance." Since then, the NIH has strictly forbidden all employees to work for or to own shares of any pharmaceutical company.
Sunderland's first hearing will be held in Baltimore on the morning of 8th December, 2006.
