Don't have time to do a full and proper post today, but wanted to reprint this from the Center for Media and Democracy (who, in turn, got it from Nightline).
FDA's Flack Attack
Source: ABC News Nightline, May 30, 2007
Several members of Congress are asking about conflicts of interest at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after an FDA spokesman, who previously worked as a public relations representative for pharmaceutical companies, used agency email to attack the research of an independent scientist. Douglas Arbesfeld, a senior communications consultant to the FDA, sent an email to reporters attacking Dr. Steven Nissen, who recently co-authored a study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggesting that the diabetes drug Avandia may increase the risk of heart attacks. The e-mail, titled "What are St. Steven's feet made of? Clay, perhaps?," included a link to an anonymous blog accusing Nissen of playing favorites among drug companies.
