Over-regulation partly to blame for ‘wildly expensive’ research costs, says medical executive

David Skorton, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, explains how overhead costs associated with medical research can be reduced without blanket cuts.

He also said that transparency from research institutions could help create better awareness of how taxpayer dollars are being used to support those institutions that have become the bane of critics who say they are stockpiling taxpayer dollars for their own benefit. 

"In some cases, more than one agency will develop regulations, and the researchers have to answer to all of those different agency regulations. We should be able to harmonize those things and come out with a more thoughtful approach to reducing some of the regulatory burden," Skorton said. He added that, in turn, researchers will be able to spend more time doing what they do best, research, which in the long run will mean greater results for the public.