Surveyed FDA Scientists Claim Corporate Influence

Hundreds of FDA scientists believe that corporate interests continue to interfere with their work, according to a survey by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The nonprofit advocacy group questioned 7,043 FDA scientists last summer. Of the 997 scientists who responded, 214 believed that corporate interests had “a lot of weight in the FDA’s final decisions,” and 347 thought such influence was “too high.” In addition, 238 scientists said they “frequently” or “occasionally” experienced corporate interests forcing withdrawal of or changes to FDA policies or actions. “Despite the Obama Administration’s improvements in scientific integrity, political and corporate influence over the FDA’s scientific work persist,” Francesca Grifo, director of UCS’s Scientific Integrity Program, said in a statement. In response to the survey, FDA’s chief scientist, Jesse L. Goodman, wrote on FDA’s blog that although the survey represents a small group, the findings of undue corporate influence on science-based decisions and “fear of retribution for sharing concerns about the FDA” are worrisome. On a positive note for FDA, the survey found that 652 of the surveyed scientists agreed “the agency is moving in the right direction.”