Administration Continues to Suppress, Weaken Science - October 18, 2004 Vol.5, No.21

October 18, 2004 Vol.5, No.21:

Published: 10/18/2004

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Administration Continues to Suppress, Weaken Science

In three separate cases in the past month, agency scientists have claimed that government agency officials have suppressed or softened their scientific findings, allowing policies harmful to public health and the environment to be carried out despite scientific evidence of their potential harm.

Antidepressants and Vioxx

As reported in the last issue of the Watcher, Food and Drug Administration scientist Andrew Mosholder told a congressional committee that FDA higher-ups asked him to rewrite conclusions to a study he conducted suggesting that antidepressants led to an increased risk of suicidality in children. Now another agency scientist has come forward and claimed that FDA officials also asked him to soften his conclusions on the harmful effects of Vioxx, a COX-2 inhibitor that was recently pulled by maker Merck after studies revealed an increased risk of cardiovascular disorder associated with the drug. According to the Washington Post,

[Sen. Charles] Grassley [(R-IA)] said in a news release that David Graham, associate science director of the Office of Drug Safety, told him that agency officials "ostracized" him and subjected him to "veiled threats" as he tried to have his study cleared for publication. When a top FDA official suggested "watering down" the report, Graham responded in an e-mail: "I've gone about as far as I can without compromising my deeply-held conclusions about this safety question."

Though studies dating as far back as 2000 pointed to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke for users of Vioxx, FDA has stood quietly on the sidelines while more than 27,000 users of the drug experienced serious side effects.

Endangered Salmon

Federal biologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Sacramento Bee that NOAA officials forced them to rewrite conclusions that a new California water plan to shift millions of gallons of water to Southern California from rivers in the north would harm the endangered salmon population. Senate Democrats have called for an investigation.