A senior Senate Republican has launched an investigation into the Food and Drug Administration’s secret e-mail monitoring of scientists who warned that unsafe medical devices were approved over their objections, saying whistleblowers often are treated “like skunks at a picnic.” Read more…
By Lisa Rein and Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post
The Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal e-mail of a group of its own scientists and doctors after they warned Congress that the agency was approving medical devices that they believed posed unacceptable risks to patients, government documents show.
The surveillance — detailed in e-mails and memos unearthed by six of the scientists and doctors, who filed a lawsuit against the FDA in U.S. District Court in Washington last week — took place over two years as the plaintiffs accessed their personal Gmail accounts from government computers. Read more…
By Ellen Nakashima and Lisa Rein
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — To head off medical conflicts of interest, the Obama administration is poised to require drug companies to disclose the payments they make to doctors for research, consulting, speaking, travel and entertainment.
Many researchers have found evidence that such payments can influence doctors’ treatment decisions and contribute to higher costs by encouraging the use of more expensive drugs and medical devices. Read more…
By: Robert Pear
The New York Times
Academic articles written by economists might now come with a bit of microeconomic data: the author’s financial ties to firms or advocacy groups.
The American Economic Association, the world’s largest organization for economists, said authors submitting papers to its publications must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. The Nashville, Tennessee-based organization also urged its 18,000 members, about half of whom work in academia, and other economists to apply the standard to all media. Read more…
By Timothy R. Homan
Businessweek
A bill that critics warn weakens whistleblower protections quietly moved through a House subcommittee last month and now has supporters like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pushing the full committee to quickly pass it.
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