Crawford charged with misdemeanors

The Department of Justice charged former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford with committing two misdemeanors while he was an FDA employee: for making false written statements and undertaking government activities that he could benefit from financially. Both charges relate to stock in FDA-regulated businesses held by Crawford and his wife. Crawford resigned as commissioner in September 2005 when the Bush administration learned that he had failed to disclose ownership of stock in FDA-regulated businesses (See BioCentury, Sep. 26, 2005).

The false statement charge involves government assertions that Crawford falsely informed an HHS ethics official in December 2004 that he and his wife had sold their stock in Sysco (SYY), a food distribution company, and Kimberly-Clark (KMB), a manufacturer of medical devices and other FDA-regulated products. He also is charged with failing to disclose earnings from the exercise of stock options in Embrex (EMBX), which develops and manufactures technology for egg-based poultry and human vaccines. ...