BMJ  2005;331:472 (3 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7515.472-b

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US National Institutes of Health issue new ethics guidelines

New York

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Elias Zerhouni, director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced new guidelines on ethics for staff members last week, addressing concerns initially made public in December 2003 by the Los Angeles Times about staff members who had lucrative consulting arrangements with drug and biotechnology companies ( BMJ 2004;329: 10[Free Full Text]).

The new rules are tougher than some NIH staff members had wanted but more lenient than some critics had demanded. Dr Zerhouni said the new rules are "the most restrictive we know about."

The rules went into effect last week. Scientists who must sell investments under the new rules have until 30 January to do so.

In a teleconference with journalists Dr Zerhouni reiterated earlier preliminary rules: all NIH staff members are prohibited from consulting work with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, makers of medical devices, healthcare providers such as insurance companies, and research institutions receiving . . . [Full text of this article]

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