How the National Institutes of Health became a breeding ground for nepotism

For too long, National Institutes of Health (NIH) bureaucrats have lined their pockets with secret deals with big business and befriended the very institutions they are tasked with overseeing.

At a time when trust in public institutions is shockingly low, this is no mere minor oversight. It's completely rampant corruption. Alarmingly, over the past 10 years alone, he has had over 55,000 royalty payments ignored. Each undisclosed royalty payment presents a potential conflict of interest, undermines the credibility of our institutions, and undermines the trust of the American people.

An explosive expose by Open the Books in 2022 shed light on this den of nepotism. It has been revealed that more than 2,400 NIH scientists received a whopping $325 million in royalty payments over the past decade, an average of $135,000 per person. But the details of these sweetheart deals remain hidden in the dark, with key information redacted from public view.

Despite attempts to reveal these details, the NIH refuses to release key information such as individual payment amounts and the identity of payers.

In June 2022, my Republican colleagues on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and I sent a letter to the NIH requesting information about these royalty payments. But the NIH has resisted, saying it has no intention of releasing such details. This kind of arrogance fuels distrust and raises legitimate concerns about whose interests government agencies are really serving.

When I directly challenged Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about the royalties paid by vaccine manufacturers to members of vaccine approval committees, Dr. Fauci said the law was based on science. They argued that the law protects people from disclosing royalties. The implications of these private payments go far beyond mere bureaucratic secrecy. These cast a long shadow on the fairness of the regulatory process.

Moderna's $400 million royalty payments to the NIH, Dartmouth College, and Scripps College will make it difficult for NIH scientists to treat Moderna objectively.

The NIH's potential profit from future royalties on Moderna's coronavirus vaccine adds icing on the cake to this conflict of interest, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the regulatory process. This is not just about financial transparency. It is about ensuring that public health decisions are made in the best interests of the American people, untainted by prospects of economic profit.

The lack of transparency surrounding these payments is truly alarming. Americans have a right to know who is paying whom, how much money, and for what purpose. The current ordeal of accessing public inspection reports, which involves navigating bureaucratic hoops and facing delays and obfuscation, is an insult to the American people and a breeding ground for corruption.

To address these issues, I introduced the Royalty Transparency Act of 2024. The legislation now comes from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on a bipartisan vote. The bill would break secrecy by requiring executive branch officials to disclose royalty payments they receive for inventions developed by the government. It would also require government agencies to publish this financial information online, bypassing the current bureaucratic maze that prevents public access to the information. No more hiding behind red tape.

Additionally, the legislation would require the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Commission and the Office of Management and Budget to require applicants for federal grants and contracts to disclose royalty payments made to the government over the past 10 years. At the heart of the issue is transparency. Without it, we cannot maintain the integrity of our research and regulatory framework or maintain the trust of the American public.

Transparency is not just a buzzword, it is the foundation of a functioning democracy. Now is the time to lift the veil of secrecy and hold government agencies and their employees accountable for their actions. Only through transparency can we rebuild trust and ensure that our institutions serve the public interest rather than the economic interests of a privileged few.

We should be suspicious of conflicts of interest. We need to reflect on whether those who distribute government subsidies tend to favor companies that provide royalties. The push for royalty transparency has been around for a long time.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is a senior member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.