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Published online 4 November 2009 | Nature 462, 20-21 (2009) | doi:10.1038/462020a
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Children's study fights to survive
US politicians, once supportive of a massive research project on childhood health, are now criticizing it.
North Carolina
Late last month, in a former Blockbuster Video store in tiny Kenansville, North Carolina, an insulated cardboard box awaited a placenta. Collected after a nearby birth the night before, the placenta would be shipped to the University of Rochester Medical Center, home of the central histological lab for the US National Children's Study.
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This study promises to uncover antecedents to many now poorly managed costly diseases. It's unconscionable that poor prior oversight from the Congress never uncovered the absence of overhead costs, which can exceed direct costs at some sites, in their prior approvals.
Issuing a "breach of trust" letter in response to their inadequate past review seems better designed to cover their own incompetence than to accept their role in approving funding based on an incomplete budget projection.
Just how many "breach of trust" letters has Congress issued to defense contractors who deliver (or not) weapons systems at over twice the original contract price?
Their hypocrisy in valuing mass life taking more highly than life saving is truly extraordinary.