Scientific Integrity Report Reveals HHS Must Do More to Address Political Interference
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) strengthen scientific integrity policies after a probe found HHS agencies lacked policies to address political interference.
The investigation focused on four agencies at HHS: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
In interviews with GAO officials, agency employees indicated that they observed incidents they perceived as political interference but did not formally report them. Among the reasons for not reporting were fear of retaliation, unfamiliarity with the report process, and a sense that agency leaders were aware of the interference.
Reported examples of political interference include a senior ASPR official claiming that HHS retaliated against them for raising concerns about inappropriate political interference to make COVID-19 treatments available to the public prematurely. Another example highlights that several members of Congress criticized CDC for allegedly revising its face mask guidance for political purposes.
NIH includes information on political interference in decision-making as part of its scientific integrity training. However, none of the reviewed agencies defines political interference or describes how federal managers and employees should report or address it, which GAO identified as a gap.
GAO offered a series of recommendations to preserve scientific integrity:
Agency leaders must develop and document procedures to address potential political interference in scientific decision-making, including adding a definition of political interference;
CDC Director and FDA Commissioner must ensure that employees and contractors receive training on reporting political interference, which the Secretary of Health and Human Services should approve; and,
NIH Director should ensure the update of agency scientific integrity training.
HHS officials agreed with the recommendations and have since established a working group to update its scientific integrity policy by July 2022.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis will held a hearing last Friday to examine the report. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro was among the experts who testified before the Select Subcommittee.
In his testimony, former CDC Director Robert Redfield stated that HHS handled all agency briefings during the initial pandemic period. According to Redfield, the former administration prohibited the agency from conducting solo briefings and barred scientists from sitting for media interviews.
Redfield further highlighted internal disagreements between the CDC and HHS that spilled into the public domain when, for instance, the Trump Administration ordered hospitals to send COVID-19 data to the HHS instead of the CDC.
The documents released by the Select Subcommittee also included emails indicating the Trump Administration weakened CDC guidance.
Associate White House Counsel May Davis referred to the CDC’s May 2020 “problematic guidance” on attending church and other religious services in one email and wrote her edit “removes all tele-church suggestions." Reports from the Washington Post indicate that the CDC had already suggested that Americans consider drive-ins or streaming religious services prior to Davis' email.
