Financial Times World / US
By Christopher Bowe
Published: September 30, 2005
A Senate committee overseeing the Food and Drug Administration demanded an investigation yesterday into the financial reporting and holdings with potential conflicts of Lester Crawford, the ex-agency chief who resigned last week.
Dr Crawford's sudden, unexplained departure was prompted by financial disclosure problems, potentially the omission of stocks, congressional sources said. Dr Crawford was confirmed by the Senate as permanent FDA commissioner less than three months ago. Criticism of his tenure includes being too willing to help the drugs industry, failed drug and device safety monitoring, and political meddling over a delay in the morning-after contraception pill.
