NEWS RELEASE

Committee on Energy and Commerce
Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman

Dingell, Stupak Respond to Attempted Retaliation Against Congressional Witnesses by Food and Drug Administration Official

Washington, DC – In a letter today to FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, called for disciplinary action against a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Assistant Commissioner. The Committee leaders cited an office-wide email sent by Margaret Glavin, FDA Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), in which she criticized the performance of fellow FDA employees at a July 17 committee hearing. The FDA employees were critical of the FDA’s plan to reorganize its field operations and close seven of its 13 laboratories.

“Not only did Ms. Glavin’s conduct appear to violate federal law, it also contradicted Mr. von Eschenbach’s statement about not tolerating intimidation or retaliation of any kind in his agency,” said Dingell. “I am curious about who is running the FDA these days – the Commissioner or the special interests and entrenched bureaucracy? Hopefully, the Commissioner’s response to this new evidence of misconduct will give us the answer to that question.”

Chairman Stupak noted that “given Ms. Glavin's blatant conduct, she should be removed from her position directing FDA field staff and replaced by someone who truly believes in reforming the way the FDA does business. At the same time, the Commissioner needs to publicly repudiate and condemn her statements as contrary to the law and his policies at the FDA.”

See July 25, 2007 letter to Mr. von Eschenbach
See July 19, 2007 letter from Ms. Glavin

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