Government scientists' pharma royalties remain shrouded in secrecy, watchdogs group says

Scientists working for the government continue to get paid royalties from pharmaceutical companies -- and many details of the payments are hidden from the public.

Rachel O'Brien, who is the deputy public policy editor for Openthebooks.com, said the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a team of government scientists who invent treatments for diseases, vaccines, and more, with the scientists then licensing them to pharmacies, who pay them royalties.

"We argue that the public should know which scientists are on patent licenses for which medical innovation, which private companies are using it and for what, how much they’re paying, so the public can understand if there’s a potential conflict of interest,” O’Brien said. “So, we won two lawsuits -- one in 2022 (and) one in 2023 – to compel the NIH to disclose these payments.”

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