FDA Lawyer Collaborated with [Zoloft] Drug Firms - Lawmaker

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> JustSayNo

> Tue, 13 Jul 2004 19:12:53 -0400

> [sSRI-Research] FDA Lawyer Collaborated

> with [Zoloft] Drug Firms - Lawmaker

>

> FDA Lawyer Collaborated with Drug Firms -Lawmaker

>

>

> By Susan Heavey

>

>

http://news./news?tmpl=story & cid=594 & u=/nm/20040713/hl_nm/health_lawsui\

ts_dc & printer=1

>

> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug

> Administration (news - web sites)'s top lawyer has

> inappropriately intervened in a number of civil

> lawsuits on behalf of drug and medical device

> makers, a U.S. lawmaker charged on Tuesday.

>

> U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a New York Democrat, said

> the agency's chief counsel, Daniel Troy, filed

> friend-of-the-court briefs for drug companies in at

> least four cases where they were defendants,

> including one on behalf of his former client Pfizer

> .

>

>

> Troy also met with pharmaceutical industry lawyers

> and representatives before filing the briefs, said

> Hinchey, a member of the House Agriculture

> Appropriations Subcommittee which oversees the

> agency.

>

>

> Instead of protecting the public, Troy was " making

> it the agency's mission to protect the drug

> companies from being held accountable when their

> products do serious harm, " said Hinchey.

>

>

> In the Pfizer case, Flora Motus of California

> claimed the company's antidepressant Zoloft caused

> side effects that led to her husband's suicide. The

> case was dismissed.

>

>

> Other companies that Troy either met with or

> supported with legal briefs include SmithKline

> Beecham Consumer Healthcare, a unit of

> GlaxoSmithKline Plc, and California-based Pacesetter

> Inc. among others, according to Hinchey.

>

>

> Troy could not immediately be reached for comment.

>

>

> FDA (news - web sites) Acting Commissioner Lester

> Crawford said Troy followed the agency's ethical

> policies and recused himself from government work

> that involved former clients for one year after his

> appointment in August 2001.

>

>

> " Any allegation that he has not conducted himself in

> compliance with applicable legal and ethical rules

> is simply false, " Crawford said in a statement.

>

>

> But some experts said Troy's actions, while perhaps

> not illegal, are inappropriate.

>

>

> The Washington-based liberal think tank Center for

> American Progress on Tuesday alleged that court

> documents showed Troy " counseled pharmaceutical

> industry insiders on how to escape oversight from

> his own agency. "

>

>

> Allison Zieve, a staff attorney for consumer

> advocacy group Public Citizen, said the FDA

> previously refrained from taking sides in private

> lawsuits.

>

>

> On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed an

> amendment by voice vote that cuts $500,000 from

> Crawford's direct budget and adds that amount

> elsewhere in the agency to " ensure the accuracy of

> drug advertisements. " Hinchey sponsored the

> amendment, which is part of the pending agriculture

> bill.

>

 

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