Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

A question I get asked a lot these days is – Who should be on the short-list for FDA Commissioner?

Henry Waxman isn’t on my list – but he sure sounds like he wants the job.

According to Alicia Mundy at the Wall Street Journal, “In a letter sent today, Waxman, a California Dem who chairs the House oversight committee, demanded that the agency explain its priorities and accused it of carrying water for the drug and device industry."

His specific accusations surround the issues of pre-emption and the dissemination of medical journal articles that discuss off-label use. (For more on pre-emption, see here and here. And on the issue of off-label, see here and here.)

This most recent episode of the Waxman Inquisition really goes beyond the pale. In his letter, America’s Oversighter-in-Chief comments that Deputy HHS Secretary Tevi Troy isn’t to be trusted because:

(1) He once worked at, among other places, Hudson Institute and (2) Because his brother is Dan Troy.

Well, I worked with Tevi at Hudson – and during our joint tenure there we received exactly zero funding from the pharmaceutical industry. But, hey, why let the facts get in the way when the rhetoric of personal attack provides such florid opportunity? Did Mr. Waxman’s office even bother to check the facts? Facts? Facts? Who needs facts when you’ve got friction.

As to Dan Troy, I can personally attest from confidential knowledge that they are, in truth and in fact, brothers. So what? What is Mr. Waxman implying?

Shameful. Cowardly.

It’s also disappointing (but not surprising) that Mr. Waxman chose to release the letter to the media before it arrived at the FDA.

Maybe next time Mr. Waxman should ask one of his interns to hand-deliver the letter – since it’s so urgent.