Investigation Sought of Extensive F.D.A. Surveillance (group of scientists)
Federal health officials faced pressure from Capitol Hill and outside groups on Monday to investigate a wide-ranging surveillance program that the Food and Drug Administration mounted against a group of its scientists who raised warnings about the safety of medical imaging devices.
Representative Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, sent a letter on Monday to Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, calling on her to conduct a full investigation into whether the surveillance program violated federal employee protections and whistle-blower laws.
“The tactics reportedly used by the F.D.A. send a terrible message to those who are prepared to expose waste, abuse or wrongdoing in government agencies,” wrote Mr. Van Hollen, whose staff communications were monitored by the F.D.A.
The New York Times disclosed in an article on Sunday that the agency’s surveillance of five of its own scientists beginning in 2010 had produced 80,000 pages of intercepted e-mails and other documents, along with what amounted to an enemies list of 21 “actors” at the agency, in Congress, the news media and academia who were thought to be collaborating to put out confidential information damaging to the reputation of the F.D.A.’s medical device reviews.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/us/politics/inquiry-sought-of-extensive-fda-surveillance.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
