Kessler not encouraging

WASHINGTON - FDA Commissioner David Kessler continued to erect the agency's bulwarks against FDA reform, releasing a "White Paper" that seeks to discredit the Drug and Biologic Products Reform Act of 1996 (H.R. 3199) and the three other reform bills developed by the House GOP.

Testifying last week to the Commerce Committee's subcommittee on health and environment, Kessler asserted that H.R. 3199 "eliminates much of our ability to protect human subjects." He also charged that privatization of product reviews, which Republicans have made a cornerstone of all three FDA reform bills, amounts to allowing manufacturers to "buy" their reviews. ...