House Panel Finds Fault With How NIH Handles Tissue Samples

摘要

A congressional finding that a drug company paid a National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientist for spinal fluid samples has raised a larger question: What happens to NIH's archived patient samples? NIH's efforts to improve practices within its intramural program come as U.S. medical centers are trying to tighten controls over such materials. At a 2-day hearing last week, Joe Barton (R-TX), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, complained about the "lack of a centralized database [for patient samples] and a lack of oversight at NIH that could, and probably does, leave NIH laborator[ies] vulnerable to the risks of theft and abuse." NIH officials testified they have already begun to improve their procedures.