Aggregated News
MOVE INTENDED TO STAVE OFF INCREASED STATE OVERSIGHT
Officials with California's $3 billion stem-cell research institute have recommended adopting tougher conflict-of-interest rules for board members in an effort to fend off a ballot initiative that would subject them to increased state oversight.
The changes recommended late Monday by a committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine would require board members to divest or put into a blind trust investments in companies doing stem-cell therapies. It also would provide greater public access to its meetings and information.
The recommendations, which would strengthen conflict-of-interest policies the institute approved earlier this year, are expected to be considered by the institute's full board on July 12. They were prompted by a proposed constitutional amendment being pushed by state Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, that is intended to ensure the institute's operations aren't governed by special interests or by board members' personal gain.
Curiously, Ortiz recently dropped a similar divestiture requirement from her bill after the institute's board complained the measure was too draconian. She had included it initially because it mirrored a rule adopted...
Officials with California's $3 billion stem-cell research institute have recommended adopting tougher conflict-of-interest rules for board members in an effort to fend off a ballot initiative that would subject them to increased state oversight.
The changes recommended late Monday by a committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine would require board members to divest or put into a blind trust investments in companies doing stem-cell therapies. It also would provide greater public access to its meetings and information.
The recommendations, which would strengthen conflict-of-interest policies the institute approved earlier this year, are expected to be considered by the institute's full board on July 12. They were prompted by a proposed constitutional amendment being pushed by state Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, that is intended to ensure the institute's operations aren't governed by special interests or by board members' personal gain.
Curiously, Ortiz recently dropped a similar divestiture requirement from her bill after the institute's board complained the measure was too draconian. She had included it initially because it mirrored a rule adopted...