A congressional committee will question National Institutes of Health officials as part of an investigation into funding for Lyon, France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, a semi-autonomous part of the World Health Organization, reports Reuters.
An aide to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said NIH officials will provide an in-person briefing to the committee after questions were raised by lawmakers over its grants to the IARC, according to the report. A date for the briefing is pending.
The briefing comes as the IARC faces criticism over its classification of carcinogens. IARC has previously caused controversy over whether such things as coffee, mobile phones, processed meat and the weed killer glyphosate cause cancer, reports Reuters.
Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, in a letter to NIH director Francis Collins, describes IARC as having "a record of controversy, retractions and inconsistencies" and asks why the NIH, which has a $33 billion annual budget, continues to provide funding, according to the report.
The NIH confirmed to Reuters that it had received Mr. Chaffetz's letter and "will respond directly to the committee".
A spokeswoman for IARC told the publication Mr. Chaffetz's letter contained "misconceptions" which IARC's director, Chris Wild, has tried to address in a letter of his own to the NIH director.