Trey Sunderland, chief of the geriatric psychiatry branch at the National Institute of Mental Health, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights on Wednesday when asked by a congressional subcommittee about his alleged sale of tissue samples owned by NIH to Pfizer, the Washington Post reports (Weiss, Washington Post, 6/15). According to a report released on Tuesday at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Sunderland provided Pfizer with more than 3,200 samples of spinal fluid and 388 tubes of plasma collected for Alzheimer's disease research. Sunderland violated HHS ethics rules and federal laws, according to the report. The report estimates that NIH spent $6.4 million to collect the samples, which were donated by volunteers with Alzheimer's, relatives of Alzheimer's patients and individuals with normal risk for the disease. The report states that "records and interviews provide reasonable grounds to believe" Sunderland "personally received $285,000 in compensation from Pfizer" in exchange for the samples (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 6/14). Sunderland on Wednesday in testimony at a hearing of the subcommittee said, "I respectfully decline to answer this question and any other questions based on my constitutional rights" (Freking, AP/Long Island Newsday, 6/15).

Additional Testimony
At the hearing, NIMH Director Thomas Insel said that he would have fired Sunderland for his conduct in November 2005 but could not because Sunderland is an employee of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, not NIH. In addition, subcommittee members asked witnesses to explain the lack of a central database to monitor the tissue samples owned by NIH. Insel said, "Up to this point, we have left it up to the scientists to police themselves and then judge them on their stewardship," adding that NIH would "very seriously" consider a central database. Insel and other witnesses also said that NIH has taken steps to improve the management of tissue samples. Subcommittee Chair Edward Whitfield (R-Ky.) in a statement said, "The ability of NIH researchers to obtain samples from people and the resources and the freedom to research relies on basic trust." Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) in the same statement said that "accountability must be restored to NIH's own research programs" (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 6/14).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.