Congress Investigates National Institutes of Health Group

RALEIGH, N.C. _ Members of Congress are asking pointed questions about the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and demanding personal and professional financial records of its director.

The institute, one of the prestigious National Institutes of Health, normally keeps a low profile on a sheltered campus tucked into North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. Its $710 million budget pays for studies on environmental risks to human health.

Now Reps Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, are investigating director David Schwartz’s efforts, starting in 2005, to privatize an institute journal. They have requested multiple financial records from the accomplished researcher, including details on his personal consulting jobs and investments.

“Multiple sources have contacted the committee to raise additional questions about your conduct as director of NIEHS” beyond criticism of proposed changes proposed at the journal, a March 30 letter from the congressmen states.

Staff for Waxman and Kucinich declined to discuss the inquiry into Schwartz’s finances except to say that it was highly preliminary. The push to understand Schwartz’s efforts to modify the journal stems from a desire to preserve the independence of the publication, they said.

Neither Schwartz nor NIEHS would comment on the query. Requested records have been sent to the U.S. House committee on oversight and government reform, said NIEHS communications director Christine Bruske Flowers. Waxman and Kucinich are leaders of the committee.

Environmental groups voiced opposition two years ago when Schwartz floated the idea of privatizing Environmental Health Perspectives, the institute’s journal, partly to save money. The journal publishes research and news stories exploring risks tied to exposure to chemicals and other environmental hazards.

Critics of change said axing government support for the publication could make the journal dependent on advertising, decreasing its ability to publish findings critical of products made by potential advertisers. Plus, it might not be as freely accessible. While a print subscription costs $249 a year, the journal is free online.

After criticism mounted, Schwartz last year wrote in EHP that institute would continue to produce the journal. In a letter to NIH director Elias Zerhouni, the Congressmen say it appears that NIEHS may be moving ahead with another proposal to privatize the journal, though they cite no specifics. They asked Zerhouni to suspend any changes until their committee can investigate.

Before becoming NIEHS director in 2005, Schwartz was a successful doctor-scientist at Duke University where he chased genetic clues to how pollutants harm human lungs. Soon after the pulmonologist was selected to succeed former NIEHS director Dr. Kenneth Olson, Schwartz created a splash by resisting newly created NIH conflict of interest rules.

He delayed taking the job, informing Zerhouni that some of the rules would prevent him from attracting top talent to NIEHS and harm him personally, though he did not publicly disclose how. He took the job when, he said, Zerhouni assured him that new rules limiting personal investments in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical equipment companies would be loosened.

NIH refused a 2005 Raleigh News & Observer public records request and a 2006 appeal for correspondence between Schwartz and Zerhouni on the matter, saying it was exempt from public records because it dealt with personnel issues.

The congressmen requested records that detail NIEHS money earmarked for Schwartz’s personal or professional use and all financial disclosure forms he has submitted to NIH. They also want specifics on his private consulting work and financial interests in enterprises affected by NIH research and regulation.

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