Fears of Slow Research Halt Federal Advisory Panel Bill

NIH concerns slammed the brakes on a bill May 15 seeking more transparency about people serving on federal advisory boards.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee agreed to postpone voting on the Federal Advisory Committee Act (H.R. 1608) to address any negative impact on medical research.

The National Institutes of Health said the legislation would slow down new discoveries by burying the grant selection process in paperwork. The NIH funds more than 50,000 competitive grants to more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions.

“The chairman is right to ...