Crawford Probe

Members of congress from both the House and Senate have asked the Inspector General for the Health & Human Services to investigate the reasons surrounding the sudden resignation on Sept. 23 of former FDA commissioner Lester M. Crawford.

In a letter to HHS Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.) wrote, We would appreciate if you would examine [Crawfords] financial reporting in accordance with the various ethics laws to determine whether he was in compliance and whether he was forthcoming in his attestations to the White House Counsel, the Department of Health & Human Services, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Committee.

Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and five other Democratic House members wrote a similar letter to the HHS Inspector General. It said, Dr. Crawfords resignation, a mere two months after confirmation to his position, raises significant questions.

The requests were prompted by a Sept. 28 New York Times article, which claimed that Crawfords unintentional failure to disclose certain financial interests during the confirmation process had prompted his resignation.

In the meantime, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, the acting FDA commissioner, announced on Sept. 30 that he will take a leave from his position as director of the National Cancer Institute. HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt has named John Niederhuber as chief operating officer of NCI; he will direct day-to-day operations. Niederhuber, a clinical oncologist, is a former chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board. Before Niederhuber was appointed, members of Congress had complained that if von Eschenbach tried to head both FDA and NCI, it would create conflicts of interest because NCI studies some of the drugs that FDA later approves.