Former FDA chief pleads guilty to conflict of interest charges Posted by Liz at 10/17/06 10:46 AM

Crawford falsely stated in 2004 to government officials that his shares in food giants, Sysco and Kimberely-Clark had been sold, while he and his wife still held them.

If that's not messy enough--while Crawford held shares in Pepsico, a soft drink and snack food company, he was chair of an FDA Obesity Working Group, which would review such things as calorie content labeling for soft drinks.

Conflict of interest issues within the FDA is a problem that's existed for a while.

Senior FDA officials are not allowed to own shares in a company they regulate, but often times advisory committee members do have financial ties to a company whose products they are reviewing. And these members can play a big role in deciding a drug's safety, for instance, before it goes to market.

The Institute of Medicine focused on this in their pretty harsh report of the FDA:

The advisory committees that FDA consults as a source of independent insight on questions about new products have attracted criticism because the agency allows individuals with financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry to serve. Noting that the agency does not impose limits on the number of committee members waived to serve despite financial ties, but also acknowledging that a zero-tolerance policy is unrealistic, the report recommends that a substantial majority -- at least 60 percent -- of advisory committee members be free of significant financial involvement with companies whose interests may be affected by their deliberations. FDA should issue waivers for the other committee members very sparingly.

Hopefully, a push for greater reform will come out of this news. In order for the public to have faith in this agency, we need to know that FDA officials and members have no financial ties with companies that may affect their decisions on bringing new products to the market. Our health depends on it.

comments (5)

1 Posted by Phil Davis at 11/01/06 10:36 AM

Surprise, surprise....the FDA is the most incestuous Fed. Agency of them all, in bed with Big Pharma. If we believe that the FDA is there to protect our health and safety, we are not being at all realistic. If the People's health were the true concern, then there would be honest testing and appraisals of alternative-natural medications as well, with Profits not the primary consideration.

2 Posted by Marjorie DeLuca at 11/01/06 11:24 AM

So who appointed him? (no need to answer)

3 Posted by christine at 11/01/06 11:46 AM

Phil Davis - I could not have said it any better, so I won't even try. :)

4 Posted by Merle at 11/01/06 04:29 PM

Phil Davis,
I hope you are expressing yourself this well in letters to your senators and congressman, demanding they DO SOMETHING to fix the runaway FDA.

5 Posted by Bill Vanderbilt at 11/02/06 11:09 AM

Greetings All
Here is a copy of something that I have just added to one of my political forums on another network. I have been advocating for children with autistic spectrum disorders for quite a while now and the amount of corruption, lies and cover uops that I have discovered with regard to childrens immunization shots is unbelievable. This is perhaps the most disgusting part of all things our government condones.

Next on the list is Sen (R) Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader. Here is the man that you can all thank for protecting drug companies from liability from lawsuits filed by the families of children who have aquired autism from immunization shots. Thimerasol is a mercury based preservative used in these shots. To give you an idea of the toxicity of thimerasol, check out this little tidbit. According to EPA standards on air, land and water quality, waste disposed of in landfills cannot contain more than 500 parts per billion of mercury. Our babies are inlected with immunization shots that contain as much as 50,000 parts per billion.

These are irrefutable facts and the following tells you of the role Sen. Frist played in protecting the drug companies.

FTCR: Frist Inoculates Drug Makers for Any Vaccine Liability After Industry Won Him Senate & He Himself Said Anthrax Was Problematic

11/16/2005 4:33:00 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National Desk

Contact: Jamie Court, 310-874-9989; Carmen Balber, 310-392-0522 ext 324

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is seeking a last-minute amendment to an appropriations bill that would remove legal liability from a drug company if the Bush Administration declares its vaccines are needed to respond to a public health threat. The Associated Press reports Frist is behind the eleventh-hour change.

The pharmaceutical industry that makes the vaccines was the largest industry donor to Frist's National Republican Senatorial Committee, the political arm of Senate Republicans that was key to winning a GOP majority in the Senate. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) called on Frist to withdraw the amendment based on his own conflict of interest - the industry he is helping is his biggest donor and he has himself condemned the safety of the anthrax vaccine.

"How can we trust an administration that does not know what a weapon of mass destruction is to take away our legal rights when it sees a so-called public health threat?" said Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "This is a total giveaway to the GOP's biggest donor using national security as cover. It's a terror dividend for Big Pharma, which handed Senator Frist and the GOP the third branch of government."

Under the legislation the Frist amendment is based on, the Bush Administration could declare a real or potential public health emergency, classify any vaccine or product as necessary to respond to a public health threat and provide its manufacturer almost virtual immunity from prosecution. The immunity provisions are so broad that any product that can be considered a "countermeasure," not just vaccines, would be included under its protection.

Frist himself has acknowledged problems with the anthrax vaccine: "The (anthrax) vaccine is a dated vaccine, it's an old vaccine. There are very real and potentially serious side effects from the vaccine and anyone who elects to receive the vaccine to be made aware of that."
I do not recommend

widesprnehttp://communityMay a smile follow you to sleep each night,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
and be there waiting,,, when you awaken.

Sincerly, Bill Vanderbilt

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