A Salutary Observation for Researchers at Australian Publicly Funded Research Agencies? (July 27, 2006)

The release a fortnight ago of CSIRO's revised policy on public comment by staff while softening the policy previously in force allows the organisation's administration ample leeway to affect the comments its staff might choose to utter publicly. The principal requirement is that it be done with greater subtlety.

And perhaps apropos is a recent finding by the Union of Concerned Scientists in the United States regarding the staff of the US Food and Drug Administration.

It surveyed 997 researchers at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and found:

70% believe the agency lacks the resources to protect public health.

60% knew of commercial interference in the FDA process.

18% had been asked to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or their conclusions.

40% said they could not publicly express concerns about public health without fear of retaliation.

Source: Union of Concerned Scientists