美国终止一项耗资一亿美元的饮酒研究项目

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.

美国国立卫生研究院星期五说，这项计划耗资1亿美元的研究所得出的结果难以让人相信，因为该研究院雇员以秘密的方式与啤酒和烈酒公司进行提供研究资金的洽谈。

政府官员说，只要遵守所有相关规定，使用产业资金进行政府的研究项目符合法律。不过，美国国立卫生研究院的官员说，在这个项目上，该院的雇员没有遵守相关程序，包括对他们与酒业人员的接触秘而不宣。

美国国立卫生研究院副院长塔巴克说，该院雇员与就业代表的接触看来是要有意影响这项研究，从而更可能得出适量饮酒对健康有益的结论。

国立卫生研究院的审查小组还担心，研究项目计划的10年时间段太短，无法对每日饮酒的潜在健康影响做出有效判断，例如，是否增加患癌症或心脏病的风险。