A Meal to Remember
2006; Wolters Kluwer; Volume: 28; Issue: 22 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1097/01.cot.0000290026.64359.bc
ISSN1548-4688
Autores ResumoOn Oct. 18, following the official swearing-in ceremony of NCI Director John E. Niederhuber, MD, by HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt, and a public reception in the NIH Visitor Information Center, several dozen selected guests were transported to a special luncheon in honor of Dr. Niederhuber at the Lawton Chiles International House, otherwise known as the Stone House, which had been a former residence of the family of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, DC, before being acquired by NIH in 1949. The invitation was from the Foundation for the NIH, a Bethesda-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation established by Congress in 1990 to support medical research at NIH in ways as pioneering and cutting-edge as the research itself, according to the Foundation's Web site, which also states: “Much of the Foundation's focus is on identifying partners, including organizations and individuals, and matching donors' interests to specific NIH needs.” The toastmaster for the occasion was Martin J. Murphy, Jr., MD, Founding Chairman and CEO of AlphaMed Consulting Inc.; Founding Executive Editor of The Oncologist; a Board Member of the American Cancer Society Foundation; and a Charter Member of C-Change. He gave several champagne toasts to Dr. Neiderhuber, and introduced other guests, who also paid tribute to the new NCI Director. These guests included John R. Seffrin, PhD, CEO of the American Cancer Society; Charles M. Balch, MD, former EVP/CEO of ASCO and now Professor of Surgery and Oncology at Johns Hopkins; Ellen V. Sigal, PhD, Chair of Friends of Cancer Research and a Board member of Foundation for the NIH; and Paul G. Rogers, Chair Emeritus of the Board of Research!America, and the former US Congressman from Florida who was cosponsor of the 1971 National Cancer Act. NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, MD, arrived a few minutes late during one of the toasts, and, before taking his seat, raised his champagne flute and commented about the ethics of imbibing this particular beverage on a weekday afternoon. He somewhat awkwardly referred to a remark made some years before by Anthony S. Fauci, MD, the longtime Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, by noting that “Tony would say if it feels good, then it's probably not ethical.” The extravagant buffet meal was served at formally set tables, and included both lobster and veal, as well as wine to supplement the champagne. Toward completion of the celebration, an obviously somewhat embarrassed Dr. Niederhuber thanked his guests, alluding to expecting 12 pallbearers to take him off at any moment. Commenting on the new world he'd entered, the modest surgical oncologist, who was a Founding Editor of The Oncologist, said he'd be more comfortable holding a pancreas or a left lung lobe, and then good-naturedly added that with all his responsibilities he hadn't had a chance to review the luncheon arrangements, but if he'd known that Marty Murphy would be overseeing the tribute, he probably would not have approved it. Noting the uncomfortable nature of the situation for the NIH and NCI Directors, and following reactions from certain other guests at the function regarding the propriety of the event, OT contacted the Foundation about serving such a lavish lunch during a time of fiscal restraint and ethical eyebrow-raising over real or perceived lapses in ethical judgment or behavior. In comment, Charles Pucie, the Foundation's Director of Public Affairs and Communications, replied that the “costs for the event were deemed reasonable in relation to the nature of the event,” and said that the Foundation hadn't received any other “adverse comments on any aspect of the luncheon.”
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