OTTAWA — A parliamentary committee wants to know why a drug-company executive was appointed to the board of the independent public agency that funds health research in Canada.
The health committee’s Nov. 30 review comes after NDP health critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis complained the appointment of Dr. Bernard Prigent, vice-president of Pfizer Canada, to the governing council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research is a “potential conflict of interest.
“Having the drug companies’ executives deciding health research directions is like having the big bad wolf directing the three little pigs on how to build their homes,” she said in a statement.
CIHR is the main federal funding agency for health research, with a governing council composed mainly of academics.
Prigent’s appointment was “quite inappropriate,” said Dr. Patricia Baird, a medical geneticist at the University of British Columbia who has served on the Medical Research Council of Canada.
“To appoint to the board someone who — clearly their first duty is to the pharmaceutical company shareholders — that is not necessarily going to be congruent with the public interest,” Baird said.
In an e-mail, Prigent said, “With my many years of pharmaceutical research and development experience, my appointment will support CIHR’s mission of creating new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians and a strengthened health-care system.”
Though CIHR has never had a drug executive on its governing council, Prigent said choosing candidates with broad industry experience is “consistent with the practices of other major national and international granting councils/agencies.”
CIHR spokesman David Coulombe said Prigent was appointed “for his skills, experience and personal competencies. He is an experienced strategic decision maker, with a keen understanding of research and development partnerships between public and private institutions.”
He said Prigent won’t influence CIHR funding of specific research but will be part of a council that makes “high level” budget decisions only.
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