Dr. Trey Sunderland, chief of the geriatric psychiatry branch of the National Institute for Mental Health, sent Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, 3,200 tubes of spinal fluid and 388 tubes of plasma collected for Alzheimer's research.

Sunderland received $285,000 in consulting fees from Pfizer for the human tissue samples, which cost the federal government $6.4 million to collect, according to congressional investigators. From 1998 to 2004, Pfizer paid Sunderland over $600,000 total for outside consulting and speaking fees.

The tissue transfers were reported in a House Energy and Commerce Committee report, and were first reported by a government whistleblower. The findings have raised serious concerns about the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) ability to track valuable tissue samples and ensure top-level scientists do not abuse their positions.

A Pfizer spokesperson said the company had a transfer agreement endorsed by the NIH that allowed Sunderland to send the samples. However, an NIH spokesman said the agreement was made without NIH knowledge.