Daniel Levinson, inspector general of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has said that his office will reopen 103 cases of conflicts of interest among scientists at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The investigation will be carried out by the inspector general's Special Investigations Unit, staffed by five criminal investigators.

Mr Levinson's office was active in prosecuting Lester Crawford, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, who was fined nearly $90 000 (£46 000; €67 000) for falsely reporting he had sold stock in companies regulated by the FDA while he still owned the shares (BMJ 2007;334:492, doi: 10.1136/bmj.39142.592130.DB)

The special unit will also investigate conflicts of interest among about 40 000 scientific teams at about 2000 universities, medical centres, and non-profit institutions that receive research grants …