FDA Employee (Vioxx) Seeks Legal Help from Whistle-Blowers' Group

F.D.A. Employee Seeks Legal Help From Whistle-Blowers' Group
By DENISE GRADY

Published: November 24, 2004 NY Times

Dr. David J. Graham, the drug safety reviewer who denounced his employer, the Food and Drug Administration, before a Congressional panel last week, said yesterday that he feared being fired and had sought legal help from a group that protects whistle-blowers.

"My concern is retaliation from these people," Dr. Graham said in a telephone interview.

His lawyer, Thomas Devine, legal director of a public-interest group, the Government Accountability Project, said that he had received anonymous telephone calls trying to discredit Dr. Graham and that he believed the calls were from people in "F.D.A. management." His accusations were first reported yesterday in the online version of the British medical journal BMJ.

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Last Thursday, testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, Dr. Graham said the drug agency was "virtually incapable" of protecting the public from unsafe drugs. The hearing was about Vioxx, the popular painkiller and arthritis drug that was taken off the market in September because of cardiovascular risks. Dr. Graham contended that tens of thousands of people had suffered heart attacks or strokes because of the drug, and that the drug agency and Merck, the maker of Vioxx, had failed to act on early signs of trouble.

More at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/24/politics/24drug.html

They're not going to protect this public servant.

They're not going to protect the public from dangerous pharmaceuticals.

They believe it's their Christian responsibility to push legislation to protect the drug companies. They want laws limiting the damages payable to families of the Vioxx victims.