Dorgan Accuses White House of Unethically Politicizing Safety Warnings From the FDA

[FLAprogressive]

Source: OpenLeft

We've been aggressively covering the crazy story of the Obama administration crushing drug importation legislation that President Obama campaigned on as a presidential candidate and supported as a U.S. Senator. Now, days after the administration colluded with the pharmaceutical industry to kill the measure, one Democratic senator is making an extremely serious accusation.

The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to be one of those science-based agencies somewhat removed from politics - specifically to protect the integrity of its declarations on health and safety issues. That's why this story from the Wall Street Journal is very problematic:

There are several sets of fingerprints in the Senate chamber where (drug importation) legislation died, including some from the White House, says Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND). "They did not support this," and worked with Democratic Senate leaders to kill it in order to move the larger bill forward, he said in an interview. The amendment failed in the Senate Tuesday evening...

Dorgan said he can't get answers from the administration about what's going on, though he called the White House and FDA prior to the vote.

Last week, he said he heard rumors that the FDA was going to send a letter objecting to drug importation on safety grounds, which he has said is a bogus reason. He said he called FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, who said she knew nothing about such a letter.

He said his timeline shows that a letter, signed by Hamburg questioning the safety of drug imports, was sent 24 hours later to a few senators who opposed importation. That piece of paper became a rallying cry for other senators who voted down Dorgan's amendment.

"I think the letter was prompted, probably drafted somewhere else," like "the White House" Dorgan said.

The White House has not responded to repeated calls and emails. The FDA did not immediately comment.

Read more: http://www.openleft.com/diary/16550/did-the-white-house-political-staff-unethically-pressuremanipulate-the-fda

[PearliePoo2]

1. I am sitting here feeling like I've been "gut-kicked"

What the fuck is this?
CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN?
From tears of joy a year ago....to nausea today.
Obama..my senators Murray and Cantwell? Liars.
We have been had.
:cry:

[ChiciB1]

3. More Than HAD, We Are Basically Being IGNORED! I Don't Which Is Worse!! n.t

[wordpix]

9. same thing - being ignored is exactly the same as HAD

Ignoring your opposition is a tactic that says, "You don't exist. You're bugging me, but I can't even bother to swat at you."

That works until something large comes along---in this case, Obama's base is outraged and if there's one thing we can all agree on, it's lowering the price of prescript. drugs through reimportation.

[Turbineguy]

11. In that case

Byron Dorgan is almost your Senator. His wife is from Everett.

He's one of the best guys out there.

[Tempest]

2. Sounds like the B.S. rumor about Nelson being threatened with base closures

Who are the Senators who received the letter, Dorgan?

He's full of shit, IMHO.


And since when has a story from the WSJ been considered a reliable source?

[t0dd]

5. It's becoming harder and harder to shield Obama from criticism, isn't it? nt

[zogtheobvious]

6. It's becoming harder & harder to want to do so, unfortunately. (which I guess was your point. ;) )

[harkadog]

7. I'm sure he/she is up to it.

[laughingliberal]

13. Well, the MO is starting to look familiar

especially when anyone has threatened the WH deal with Pharma.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[David Zephyr]

8. K&R.

.

[wordpix]

10. this jives exactly with what Milbank wrote in WaPo right after the vote. Article here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

President Obama writes a new health reform prescription

By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, December 16, 2009

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to take on the drug industry by allowing Americans to import cheaper prescription medicine. "We'll tell the pharmaceutical companies 'thanks, but no, thanks' for the overpriced drugs -- drugs that cost twice as much here as they do in Europe and Canada," he said back then.

On Tuesday, the matter came to the Senate floor -- and President Obama forgot the "no, thanks" part. Siding with the pharmaceutical lobby, the administration successfully fought against the very idea Obama had championed.

"It's got to be a little awkward," said Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.).

It's even more awkward for millions of Americans who are forced to pay up to 10 times the prices Canadians and Europeans pay for identical medication, often produced in the same facilities by the same manufacturers, simply because the U.S. government refuses to rein in drug prices. snip

One after the other, the drug industry's friends from pharmaceutical-manufacturing states New Jersey, Delaware and North Carolina went to the floor Tuesday to cite the FDA letter.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Bristol-Myers Squibb) warned that "you may have a heart attack" because of counterfeit medicine from abroad.

"This is a matter of life or death," agreed Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Merck).

Carper (D-AstraZeneca) cited "remaining safety and soundness and health concerns," while Sen. Kay Hagan (D-GlaxoSmithKline) voiced "serious doubts that we can adequately ensure the safety of the drug supply."

These arguments don't hold up well, considering that 40 percent of the active ingredients in American prescription drugs come from India and China, and that the latter slipped tainted heparin past the FDA. But fright was about the best argument opponents could use to defeat a popular proposal that would save the federal government $19 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Consumers would save many times that. snip

[emilyg]

12. Thanks.

[laughingliberal]

14. Yes, thank you for that link.

And the FDA politicized? I'm shocked! Please, they live in Pharma's pocket. I remember Obama campaigning on this. Cave-ins we can believe in.