Back story here.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wants the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration to send an email to agency employees reminding them of their right to provide information to Congress without fear of retaliation or reprisal.
Grassley is concerned that a memo sent two weeks ago by acting FDA commissioner Frank Torti outlining prohibitions on disclosure of commercial information "goes beyond legitimate privacy concerns and appears to run contrary to many statutes protecting executive branch communications with members of Congress," according to a letter sent Tuesday to Torti.
"If the memo sent last week was intended to have a chilling effect on FDA employees who want to speak up about problems, then that memo is contrary to the President's call for open and transparent government, and the Acting Commissioner needs to set the record straight," Grassley said in a statement.
Silencing whistle blowers is illegal, Grassley added. Grassley is senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the FDA.
Torti said in a March 13 email to FDA employees that disclosing commercial information "can result in disciplinary sanctions and/or individual criminal liability." He also said releasing interagency documents with protected information was also covered, including emails, letters and memorandums.
FDA said, in response to press inquiries at the time, that the memo was simply a reminder to staff that they need to be mindful of confidential information.
Grassley said he appreciates Torti's concerns, noted in the email to employees, about protecting confidential information from unauthorized disclosures. The timing of the memo, however, raises questions amid recent incidents that have shown "failures in FDA's regulatory mission."
Grassley cited recent news reports suggesting political influences may have guided some FDA decision making.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment