Government scientist charged with conflict for consulting with drug company

(AP) In a rare federal prosecution, a leading government Alzheimer's researcher was charged Monday with a criminal conflict of interest for performing lucrative private drug company work that overlapped his official duties.

Prosecutors alleged Dr. Trey Sunderland of the National Institutes of Health received $285,000 in improper consulting fees and travel expenses from Pfizer, Inc., for work on early indicators of Alzheimer's at the same time he also oversaw similar NIH business with the drugmaker.

The private consulting "directly related" to his government job, and Sunderland failed to obtain the proper approvals from his supervisors or disclose the work to NIH, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Prosecutors filed the charge as a criminal information, instead of indictment, signaling the possibility of a plea deal.

Sunderland did not return a call to his office Monday seeking comment. His attorney, Robert Muse, declined comment.

The prosecution is believed to be the first such case against a federal scientist since the early 1990s.

It stemmed from a two-year ethics controversy at NIH that prompted the nation's premier medical agency to issue new rules on consulting and end such relationships that enrich its scientists.

Scientists recently told NIH that the new rules are so strict that many are considering leaving the agency.

NIH had identified at least 44 government researchers who improperly made money moonlighting for biotechnology and drug companies. Most were given written or verbal reprimands or were permitted to retire.

But Sunderland drew the attention of federal prosecutors and the ire of Congress when House investigators revealed his private financial deal and the fact that he transferred hundreds of tubes of valuable NIH tissue samples to Pfizer around the time of his consulting work.

Sunderland, 55, who heads a geriatric psychiatry branch at NIH's National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md., is to appear Friday for arraignment.

Sunderland refused to testify before Congress last June, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee which launched the probe called Monday for Sunderland's dismissal. Otherwise, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said in a statement, "We can only conclude that no one is being held accountable, the system is broken and the public trust has been violated."

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., complained Sunderland had been kept on even after Department of Health and Human Services agencies found wrongdoing in their own internal investigations.

"Will a criminal conviction for conflict of interest be enough to get someone fired from NIH?" he asked.

Prosecutors alleged in Monday's court filing that during his five-year private deal with Pfizer, Sunderland "did participate personally and substantially as a government employee and officer ... in a particular matter in which, to the defendant's knowledge, he had a financial interest."

The conflict began in 1998 when Sunderland was making arrangements for NIH to work with Pfizer on an Alzheimer's project. At the same time, he began negotiations to be a paid consultant on the same project, prosecutors allege. Government scientists are not allowed to take money for their official collaborations with private companies.

NIH spokesman John Burklow declined comment.

Ned Feder, a former NIH scientist now with the non-profit watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, said "in this and similar cases NIH authorities have made it habit of covering up or minimizing wrongdoing. They are still hiding the details of other scientists' conflicts of interest over the past 10 years."

Experts said the last prosecution of a senior NIH scientist was that of Prem Sarin, who was convicted in 1992 of embezzling a drug company payment to NIH that was intended to help with AIDS research.