The Bush administration has been full of federal agency heads who uncritically accept the scientifically dubious beliefs of the White House (see Johnson, Stephen). But National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni, who resigned yesterday, was never one of them.

The New York Times’ Gardiner Harris reports that Zerhouni’s greatest– and most controversial–contribution in his six years as director was a ban on NIH scientists consulting with drug makers. The ban followed years of Congressional investigation into how much government scientists were on the take from drug and medical device companies. Zerhouni also publicly went against President Bush’s call for limits on federal financing of stem cell research.

Zerhouni says he plans to write a book about his time in the Bush adminstration. It may or may not provide juicy details about the suppression of scientific evidence. Regardless, Zerhouni walks away from the Bush administration with his integrity intact.-MB

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