Follow-Up Letter to FDA Commissioner Hamburg about FDA Advisory Committee Chair Just-Cancelled Participation in Pharmaceutical I
On Oct. 24, 2013, Public Citizen’s Dr. Sidney Wolfe informed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg of an FDA advisory committee chair’s planned participation in a pharmaceutical industry conference. The issue received national media attention, and the chairperson, Dr. Lynn Drake, subsequently promised to withdraw from the event. In this follow-up letter to Hamburg, Wolfe highlights conflicting statements made to the press by the FDA, Drake, and the conference organizer. The contradictory nature of the statements illuminates the urgent need for a written policy to address inadequate ethics training of FDA advisory committee members.