One day in 1996, in my role as chief science correspondent for NBC News, I was rummaging through the usual huge (pre-internet) pile of press releases on my desk and zeroed in on one: a phase III trial of a treatment for an aggressive type of breast cancer that was desperate to accrue volunteers.
With little fanfare, Anthony Letai, a highly respected physician-scientist, was sworn in as the 18th director of the National Cancer Institute on Sept. 29. Then, two days later, on Oct. 1, the government shut down.
