Zoloft: FDA lawyer collaborated with drug firms-lawmaker

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> JustSayNo

> Fri, 6 Aug 2004 16:52:47 -0400

 

> [sSRI-Research] Zoloft: FDA lawyer

> collaborated with drug firms-lawmaker

>

> FDA lawyer collaborated with drug

>

firms-lawmakerhttp://biz./rc/040713/health_lawsuits_1.html

>

>

> Reuters

> FDA lawyer collaborated with drug firms-lawmaker

>

> Tuesday July 13, 5:44 pm ET

> By Susan Heavey

>

> WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and

> Drug Administration'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 (NYSE:PFE - News).

>

> 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 (London:GSK.L - News), and California-based

> Pacesetter Inc. among

> others, according to Hinchey.

>

> Troy could not immediately be reached for comment.

>

> FDA 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.

>