Farber Denies House Accusations Of Bias In NIH Research Grants

Dr. Sidney Farber, professor of Pathology at the Childrens Hospital, stated yesterday that a report imputing the unfair distribution of government grants for medical research, was receiving "vast amounts of publicity on very few facts."

The report by the House Government Operations Committee, claimed that there was "extremely poor administration" in the distribution of grants. It also hinted at conflicts of interest amoung the members on the National Institute of Health Councils, which distributes the money.

Farber Received Grant

Farber, a member of the Council, conceded that he himself and other members of the committee have been frequent recipients of NIH grants. However, he insisted that Council members who apply for grants are more carefully gone over than those who are not on the council." He said that council members' applications are scrupulously examined because all Council proceedings are made public.

Farber is a member of the Council on Cancer Research. The NIH program provides for nine councils to grant funds. Each council deals with a specific area in medical research. In addition to the councils, whose members include six laymen and six experts, there are 50 study sections. The study sections make recommendations on each application to one of the councils. The council may then accpt or reject the study section's recommendation.

The House Committee hinted that on several occasions the recommendations of study sections had been reversed by the full council because of the personal interests of the council members.

Billion Dollar Success

Harvard had received more money than any other single institution, but, asserted Farber: "I don't feel defensive at all about the N.I.H. system." Every examining body in the last twenty years has had nothing but praise for it." He pointed out that all council hearings become public records and that a council member is not permitted to take part in the meeting considering his application. Farber quoted President Johnson who called the grant system "a billion dollar success story.

Farber said he did not believe that the report would cause cutbacks in congressional appropriations for the program. He admitted that the Vietnam war, the upcoming elections, and the congress' failure to pass President Johnson's proposed tax increase would increase pressure for cutbacks. Congressmen like to go home and say that they have forced the President to cut spending," Farber said. "But most Members of Congress are very sophisticated about medical research," he added. He doubted that there would be any cutback as a direct result of the House Government Operations Committee report.