Terry Vermillion, head of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) is “retiring” after the latest round of criticism directed at his department by congressional investigators.
The truth is that he’s taking a bullet for the team. And the public is not better off for it.
"I hope that with new leadership, this office will contribute more to the FDA's overall mission of protecting public safety," said Senator Charles Grassley (R, IA) in a statement Tuesday evening.
That’s a shameful comment.
Senator Grassley previously stated that the priorities of the criminal investigations unit shouldn’t be drug abuse or counterfeiting cases, but rather on misconduct by large companies.
When politics trumps public health, we are going in the wrong direction. Terry is an unfortunate sacrifice to a political agenda.
OCI pursues cases that present a danger to the public health and have an FDA nexus. The diverse background of OCI agents gives the FDA the ability to aggressively address issues ranging from mail and financial fraud, to smuggling, forfeiture, and counterfeiting. OCI agents do this with talent, devotion, skill – and success.
OCI is a career destination of choice for the cream of the crop of Federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and the Secret Service – and they come to the FDA with an average of 12.5 years of Federal law enforcement investigatory experience. That’s why Terry Vermillion, the director of OCI and a former Secret Service agent himself, refers to his agents as “a taskforce of talent.” And they play a crucial role in protecting the safety of America’s prescription medicines and food supply.
In a typical year, FDA's Special Agents will investigate about 1,000 criminal cases resulting in the arrests of hundreds of suspected violators of public health laws.
On average, 200 criminal suspects are convicted each year as the result of OCI investigations. From 1993 to present, OCI has made 4,593 arrests that resulted in 3,546 convictions and more than $5.7 billion in fines and restitutions.
Consider the words of Teddy Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Stand tall Terry.
