The U.S. government is shutting down a planned study testing whether moderate drinking has health benefits over concerns that its funding by the alcohol industry would compromise its credibility.
The National Institutes of Health said Friday the results of the planned $100 million study could not be trusted because of the secretive way that employees negotiated with beer and liquor companies to underwrite the effort.
Government officials say it is legal to use industry money to pay for government research so long as all rules are followed. However, in this case, NIH officials say employees did not follow proper procedures, including keeping their interactions with industry officials secret.
NIH Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak said the interactions between the employees and industry representatives appeared to “intentionally bias'' the study so that it would have a better chance to conclude that moderate drinking is beneficial.
An NIH review panel was also concerned that the study's proposed span of 10 years was too short a time period to adequately test the potential problems of a daily drink – such as an increased risk of cancer or heart failure.