Can private money buy public science? Disease group lobbying and Federal funding for biomedical research

摘要

Private interest groups hire lobbyists in the United States, spending huge amounts to lobby for special treatment. However, independent bureaucrats make decisions irrespective of such pressures there by harming the interests of such groups. Examples are the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and National Institute of Health (NIH) that work without direct political influence. The study examines how lobbyists influence decision making in such organizations regarding funding and other policy matters. One approach is that politicians influence these independent agencies through advisory committees, budgetary controls and subcommittee hearings so that their interests are taken care of when independent agencies make decisions. However, there could be nonalignment of interests among bureaucrats and elected representatives posing a challenge for the interest groups. This study examines whether interest groups influence policy decisions by federal agencies through lobbying politicians, especially in the context of NIH for which Congress is providing $31 billion for biomedical research by way of a peer review process. Congress earmarks decision guides while funding NIH so that their interests are taken care of. This study proposes to examine funding for research in are diseases since these cases are amenable for analysis of funding, earmarking, disease burden, and publication data used in the analysis. (65 refs.)