March 04,2010

Grassley statement on GAO report about FDA office of criminal investigations

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Reporters and Editors
RE: FDA Criminal Division
DA: Thursday, March 4, 2010

Senator Chuck Grassley issued the comment below about a newly released reportof the Government Accountability Office regarding the criminal division of the Food andDrug Administration. Grassley requested the review, in 2009, in response to allegationsabout lax standards and poor accountability in the criminal division. The senator hasconducted extensive oversight of the FDA’s performance and he has worked to holdfederal officials accountable for mismanagement.

The report is posted with this memo at http://finance.senate.gov andhttp://grassley.senate.gov. Also posted with the report is a letter from the FDACommissioner to Grassley regarding agency plans to respond to the shortcomingsidentified by the GAO.

Senator Grassley’s comment:

“This report has made a difference already by securing a much neededcommitment from the Commissioner to make the FDA’s investigative unit live up to itssignificant responsibilities. There’s no excuse for the fact that this division’s failureshave gone unchecked for years, and having the FDA leadership focused on fixing what’sbroken is the first, very important step needed.”