Today, the Friends of VA Medical Care and Health Research (FOVA) submitted a letter to The White House, urging the Administration to address the detrimental effects of a recent reinterpretation of conflict-of-interest statutes (18 U.S.C. §§ 203, 205, and 208) by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).

The reinterpretation, issued in December 2024, has introduced new administrative burdens that threaten the VA's ability to conduct research, recruit and retain expert scientists, and provide cutting-edge care to veterans.

FOVA’s letter outlines:

• The Legacy of VA Research: A long history of groundbreaking medical innovations, including the development of the nicotine patch, the first liver transplant, and the pneumonia vaccine.
• Challenges Facing Dual-Appointed Researchers: More than 90% of the VA’s 6,500 researchers hold dual appointments with academic affiliates, and the new waiver process risks delaying critical research and dissuading top scientists from engaging with the VA.
• Broad Support for Action: Acknowledgments from VA leadership, concerns raised by the National Research Advisory Council (NRAC), and bipartisan legislative efforts to address the reinterpretation.

Call to Action
FOVA is urging the Administration to bring together the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and the VA’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) to mitigate the adverse impacts of this reinterpretation. Without intervention, the VA’s ability to connect veterans with life-saving treatments and innovative care will be severely compromised.

The full letter is available here.

For more information on FOVA’s advocacy efforts, visit https://www.friendsofva.org/.