A House committee wants to know whether university scientists are misusing research funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Last week, representatives Joe Barton (R-TX) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) of the Committee on Energy and Commerce asked the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services to examine how NIH grantees are spending their money. A second letter sought an investigation into overcompensation of graduate students at state universities following allegations of such practices at the University of California.
The congressional request follows a half-dozen settlements by universities in cases involving charges of misuse of federal funds over the last 2 years. Harvard, the Mayo Clinic, Cornell, and others have made payments ranging from $2.4 million to $6.5 million after charges of falsifying time accounting, diverting money from one grant to another, and spending grant money on patient care. All settled with the Department of Justice without admitting wrongdoing. In August, the Wall Street Journal chronicled the Cornell case in a story, piquing the House Committee's interest.
NIH hasn't changed its oversight of grants because of the settlements and doesn't expect the probe to turn up much, says Norka Ruiz Bravo, NIH deputy director for extramural research: "We don't think we have a lot of problems."
