According to the ''[[Associated Press]]'', patients who took part in clinical trials at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) had no idea that scientists at the institutes received $8.9 million in royalty payments and might benefit financially for the use of their discoveries by pharmaceutical companies and device maker. The information was not made public until the press agency obtained the information after filing a request under the [[Freedom of Information Act]]. The ''AP''reported that 916 present and former NIH researchers received annual royalty payments averaging $9700 but could receive as much as $150 000. At the same time, NIH researchers spent millions of taxpayers' dollars studying the treatments that they had developed that were licensed to drug companies. Patients said they might not have participated and undergone risks of trial treatment if they knew of scientists' had a financial interest.<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC545012/</ref> | According to the ''[[Associated Press]]'', patients who took part in clinical trials at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) had no idea that scientists at the institutes received $8.9 million in royalty payments and might benefit financially for the use of their discoveries by pharmaceutical companies and device maker. The information was not made public until the press agency obtained the information after filing a request under the [[Freedom of Information Act]]. The ''AP''reported that 916 present and former NIH researchers received annual royalty payments averaging $9700 but could receive as much as $150 000. At the same time, NIH researchers spent millions of taxpayers' dollars studying the treatments that they had developed that were licensed to drug companies. Patients said they might not have participated and undergone risks of trial treatment if they knew of scientists' had a financial interest.<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC545012/</ref> |