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Lawmaker: More Oversight For Texas Cancer Agency

A state senator says she'll file legislation to reform oversight of the embattled Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

Fort Worth Democrat Wendy Davis also asked Gov. Rick Perry Wednesday to make the agency's reform an emergency action item when lawmakers convene next month.

The institute was founded in 2009 with an unprecedented $3 billion in state money and promises of cancer breakthroughs. But a criminal investigation, widespread rebuke from scientists and the resignations of agency officials amid suggestions of politics and personal profit have come faster than medical discoveries.

Davis says procedures at the institute need immediate legislative attention. She says among them are better evaluation of grant procedures and assessments of private donations that supplement salaries of agency employees.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.