Grassley pushes universities for transparency
Executive Summary
Officials at academic research institutions are the latest group to feel pressure from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who is looking to shed light on drug companies' financial ties to researchers. The ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee sent letters to leaders of almost two dozen universities asking them to examine their conflict of interest and financial disclosure policies. Grassley says he is concerned that drug company funding can influence scientific studies and that university faculty do not always report their outside income. Grassley previously prodded NIH director Elias Zerhouni to review his agency's oversight of outside grant recipients' conflicts of interest (1"The Pink Sheet," June 30, 2008, In Brief)