When is a conflict of interest not a conflict of interest? When it serves the political whims of Senator Charles Grassley. Seems that an FDA employee was removed from an agency review of Wyeth’s heartworm drug Proheart 6 because of possible personal and financial conflicts of interest. (Wyeth voluntarily pulled Proheart 6 from the U.S. market in September 2004, after thousands of reports of serious side effects, and the death of 600 dogs.) According to a Reuters report, the FDA launched a criminal investigation of the employee but took no action. The employee went to visit Senator Charles Grassley, the new father-confessor of disgruntled FDA employees. The result, another outbreak of Mad Corn Disease on the floor of the United States Senate. This dog won’t hunt.
The Dog Days of ... November?
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