Posted on 01/14/2009 9:26:26 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Charges of an ethics lapse by a stem cell scientist seeking a California research grant have been resolved with a "warning letter" from the state's Fair Political Practices Commission.
The controversy arose more than a year ago when Dr. John Reed, chief executive officer of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla (San Diego County), wrote a letter to the chief scientist of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine urging the agency to reverse its rejection of a $630,000 grant to one of the institute's scientists.
Reed is a member of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the state-sponsored governing board that oversees the stem cell agency's activities, and its members are barred from discussing applications from scientists in their own institutions.
Robert Klein, the institute's chairman of the governing board, acknowledged at the time that he had asked Reed to write the letter, and both scientists said their actions were unintentionally mistaken. Reed subsequently recused himself from acting as a board member.
Kourtney C. Vaccaro, chief of the state ethics oversight commission, said in a letter to Reed's attorney last week that the Burnham Institute's chief "intended to influence a decision that had the potential to affect his economic interest," and that he "attempted to influence a prior-made governmental decision that could not be appealed."
His "warning letter," Vaccaro said, closes the matter, and the commission plans no further action.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
geeesh.
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