Statement of Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS
HEARING ENTITLED “HUMAN TISSUE SAMPLES:
NIH RESEARCH POLICIES AND PRACTICES”

June 13, 2006

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing and initiating this bipartisan investigation. This inquiry is an example of how productive oversight can be when it is truly bipartisan. And it has been bipartisan from the first Chairman’s letter to the staff report we have before us today. You and Representative Stupak have worked together and our staffs have worked together each step of the way.

What have we uncovered? For one thing a number of serious deficiencies in individual National Institutes of Health (NIH) processes that are enumerated in the staff report. No one looks to see if priceless human tissue samples are being put to their best use. No one is looking to see if human subject protection rules are followed. No one has to account for his or her time or budget.

Trusting scientific decisions to the scientists is one thing. Giving carte blanche to individual researchers to spend funds and divert precious human tissue resources derived from patients under their care is quite another.

Congress has taken the approach that biomedical research decisions are best left to the scientists. This is as it should be. We owe it to the taxpayers, however, to ensure that the scientists who make decisions regarding very expensive life and death research options do so in a rational manner with accountability at least within the scientific community.

These investigations and the conflict of interest hearings held in 2004 have exposed a severe structural weakness in the oversight functions within NIH. First it was ethics, now it is something even broader. Dr. Zerhouni did a good job tightening up the ethical environment after our last set of hearings. I hope Dr. Gottesman will undertake a similar clean-up campaign designed to return accountability to this great institution.

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(Contact: Jodi Seth, 202-225-3641)