Posted: 5:21 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012
Flap at state’s cancer-fighting agency might have cost Texas millions
American-Statesman Staff
Infighting at the state’s cancer-fighting agency might have cost Texas millions of dollars and has the agency’s foundation director suggesting changes in law to police potential conflicts between the foundation’s donors and the agency’s grant recipients.
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas — better known as CPRIT — could have shared in royalties that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline offered the MD Anderson Cancer Center if the state agency had financed a Houston-based business incubator that included a cancer center, the agency confirmed Tuesday.
.......................
The Legislature has prohibited donors to the foundation from receiving grants, but Stevens wrote that it is a “challenge” to enforce because the foundation staff learns the identities of the grant recipients only after the agency makes the awards.
On the other hand, the foundation also has declined to release the names of all of its donors, citing their right to privacy. That policy leaves the public unable to determine whether foundation donors are getting grants.
No comments:
Post a Comment