You may recall that the NIH had come under fire when it was revealed, after inquiry by former Rep. Greenwood, that some NIH researchers had received rather substantial consulting fees from biomedical companies that they had not disclosed. The NIH had reacted then by issuing a moratorium on all employees from receiving any funds at all from external sources for research until it issued it's final rule on financial arrangements between NIH researchers and biotechnology companies.
The NIH has finally issued its rule in an internal memo, and it's not quite as harsh as first proposed, but still has tighter restrictions than had been in place a year ago. The new rule is that temporary researchers can retain their stock holdings in such companies, and permanent researchers must divest such holdings by October, 2005. There was no prohibition placed on receiving money or other compensation from biotechnology companies.
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