EWG Succeeds: Gov't Contractor Fired

Back in mid-March, I wrote about a conflict of interest related to National Institutes of Health contractor, Sciences International (SI). SI has been paid millions in taxpayer dollars over the past eight years to determine whether bisphenol-A (BPA) and other important commercial chemicals harm human reproduction and development. Client lists from SI's website indicate that the company was simultaneously working for the very companies that use and produce BPA and other chemicals under review (Dow Chemical and BASF).

Last Friday, in response to the EWG investigation, the government fired SI.

After the L.A. Times publicized the EWG investigation, Congressional leaders like Representative Waxman and Senator Boxer got involved. Immediately, SI was suspended and a formal inquiry was launched. The result was a pink slip for SI. EWG is demanding a full review of the 19 other chemicals Sciences International has analyzed for the government, but we'll see if that actually comes to fruition.

What's unbelievable to me is that, prior to this, the NIH hasn't had a conflict of interest policy. For the past eight years, SI was actually running the federal center that decides whether or not chemicals pose reproductive risks to people. Is this really the kind of research the government should be outsourcing?