Texas A&M to Pay $1M Fine for Biodefense Blunders

Texas A&M University said yesterday it plans to pay a $1 million settlement to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department for safety violations and poor training and record-keeping practices in its biological defense program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 25).

“These were serious violations that should call for this sort of settlement,” said department spokesman Donald White, noting the penalty is greater than the combined amounts of the agency’s last 11 settled fines.

The university’s Board of Regents must approve the fine and is scheduled to meet Tuesday, said Texas A&M President Elsa Murano.

“We proactively offered the figure of $1 million,” Murano said.  “We're setting a standard here, not only a standard for lab safety and performance of safety measures but also a standard that others will realize that this is the type of financial agreement that they should expect to make when standards are not maintained.”

Inspectors from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to visit the university next month to determine whether its biodefense program will be allowed to resume operations.  It is uncertain how long it would take them to reach a decision on the 2007 suspension, said university spokesman Jason Cook.

Federal scrutiny of the university program began after a laboratory worker suffered a Brucella infection in 2006 and another three were exposed to Q fever, AP reported.

Federal investigators found that the biodefense program had misplaced vials of Brucella, failed to adequately restrict access to biological agents and did not properly store disease samples and infected animals, among other security violations.  They also noted signs of insect infestation and failures by workers to remove laboratory coats or wash their hands right after working with disease agents.

Murano said that university administrators have addressed the safety problems and researchers hope to resume their work shortly.

“Our vaccine and therapeutic research, although relatively small in terms of actual dollars, is, nonetheless, a significant and critical part of our efforts to protect the citizens of our community, state and nation from those who may choose to do us harm,” Murano said.  “We're just eagerly awaiting the return of the CDC in March” (Associated Press/Houston Chronicle, Feb. 21).

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