The Administration will ask Congress to strip the National Cancer Institute of the extra powers it was granted by the National Cancer Act of 1971, unless President Nixon over-rules HEW Secretary Caspar Weinberger and Asst. Secretary for Health Charles Edwards.
Benno Schmidt, chairman of the President's Cancer Panel, feels he made progress when he argued NCI's case on research training grants and fellowships with Office of Management & Budget. In this instance, however, OMB will not have the last word. HEW Secretary Caspar Weinberger decided, when he headed OMB, to kill the NIH training program and wouldn't change his mind after moving to HEW. Congress may have forced Weinberger to back down (See HEW budget story page 2) ....
The President's decision to accept the HEW appropriation bill hammered out by House-Senate conferees has sent NIH morale soaring and has guaranteed increased cancer research efforts for another year.
The increasing incidence of pancreatic cancer, expected to cause 20,000 deaths a year by 1975, making it the fourth-leading cancer killer, has elevated this cancer site into the major league. James A. Peters, director of NCI's Division of Cancer Cause & Prevention, conveyed this information to the National Cancer Advisory Board.
The National Cancer Advisory Board, declining to seek specific legislation to establish maximum tar and nicotine levels in cigarettes, has called on the federal government to take steps for reducing the health hazards from smoking cigarettes.
Basic research should have at least 20% of the budget at the Frederick Cancer Research Center and should be directed by a person "of outstanding caliber and stature ... whose personality, philosophy, and attitudes will set the tone of the whole program and whose inspiration and leadership will create an esprit de corps that is essential to success."
Guidelines to be used in determining when patient care costs will be paid by funds allocated from NCI's Cancer Control Program have been adopted and are now in force.
