Most of the experts who served on federal review panels for new vaccines in 2007 had conflicts of interest that were either never discovered or never resolved, according to a new report from the inspector general of Health and Human Services. And the report says that the CDC consistently failed to make sure the experts adequately completed reports that would spell out any financial conflicts they might have had with vaccine developers.
Almost two out of every three vaccine advisers had potential conflicts, noted the report. Most advisers either had a job or a grant with one of the vaccine companies, and some owned stock in the companies with business in front of the committees. Thomas Frieden, the new director at the CDC, promised the inspector general that most of the problems cited in the report were already corrected.
"Since the period covered in this review, C.D.C. has strengthened the financial disclosures and conflict-of-interest process by instituting improved business processes and realigning responsibilities and oversight," he wrote in reply to the inspector general, as quoted by the New York Times.
- here's the article from the New York Times