CGS-authored
Members of the panel charged with overseeing California's stem cell research program _ and the $3 billion in taxpayer-financed grants it will distribute _ work for, have investments in, and are personally connected to the pharmaceutical and biotech companies poised to benefit from the grants.
Critics have long said that the structure of the panel, set up by last fall's Proposition 71, makes a mockery of its official name: the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. The measure virtually guaranteed members of the 29-member board would have ties to the biotech industry. It was one of the main objections of people who were questioning the wisdom of Prop. 71 prior to the election (see "Cell Divide," 9/29/04).
But after several big biotech insiders were appointed to the committee in January, concern that those ties could skew the way money is doled out has only increased. Berkeley public interest attorney Charles Halpern, who has been closely monitoring the panel, told the Bay Guardian, "The basic principle is this: anyone handing out public funds should have undivided loyalty to the public interest, and the...
Critics have long said that the structure of the panel, set up by last fall's Proposition 71, makes a mockery of its official name: the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. The measure virtually guaranteed members of the 29-member board would have ties to the biotech industry. It was one of the main objections of people who were questioning the wisdom of Prop. 71 prior to the election (see "Cell Divide," 9/29/04).
But after several big biotech insiders were appointed to the committee in January, concern that those ties could skew the way money is doled out has only increased. Berkeley public interest attorney Charles Halpern, who has been closely monitoring the panel, told the Bay Guardian, "The basic principle is this: anyone handing out public funds should have undivided loyalty to the public interest, and the...