Medical research group's conflicts of interest revealed

Reporters Susanne Rust and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed conflicts of interest involving the Constella Group, a private health research company that performs hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work for the federal government while also representing major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Merck and GlaxoSmithKline. The reporters analyzed federal contracts data to help tell the story. Among their findings:
Constella got a federal contract four years ago to oversee a list of carcinogens. Three months later, the company added a virus to the list while two of its private sector clients were developing vaccines to treat that virus.