At an all-day cancer summit Wednesday at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Vice President Joe Biden threatened to cut funding to research facilities that don't publicly report clinical-trial findings in a timely fashion, according to The Washington Post.
Vice President Biden displayed impatience as he expressed concern that many medical institutions fail to publicize the results of their clinical trials, even though they receive millions of dollars in government grants to conduct research.
"Doc, I'm going to find out if it's true," said Vice President Biden as he addressed hundreds of researchers, oncologists, data experts and patients, according to the report. "And if it's true, I'm gong to cut funding. That's a promise."
Vice President Biden has repeatedly called on researchers to share data throughout his "cancer moonshot" campaign.
Under a 2008 law, data from clinical trials is supposed to be submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov — which is run by the National Institutes of Health — within a year of the trial's completion. However, the law lacks enforcement mechanisms, according to NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD.
Dr. Collins said the Obama administration will soon introduce a final rule with "teeth," according to the report. For instance, under the proposed rule, the NIH could withhold grants from institutions if their researchers failed to submit the required data, while drug companies could be fined $10,000 a day for not submitting the results.