White House Drug Importation/PhRMA Deal Scandal Thickens with New Contradictions…

David Sirota:

TPM has a new story up about the now-thickening drug importation scandal – and the explanations are starting to get more and more convoluted and contradictory as the White House works to fight off the accusation that its political staff actually wrote an FDA safety-warning letter:

Hearing rumors of an FDA letter opposing his amendment last week, Dorgan called Hamburg to inquire about that matter. She told him that she didn’t know of any letter. Then, just 24 hours later, on Dec. 8, the letter went out, signed by Hamburg…

Asked about Dorgan’s timeline by TPMmuckraker, FDA spokesperson Meghan Scott did not say it was inaccurate. “The Commissioner did speak to Sen. Dorgan in the days before the letter was sent,” Scott says. “On that call, she expressed the FDA’s concerns, but at the time, no decision had been made on whether or not to send a letter.”

Scott adds that the letter was sent in response to an inquiry by Sens. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Tom Carper (D-DE). And she argues that the letter is consistent with the FDA’s past position on drug importation.

First the contradiction: According to this report and the Wall Street Journal report, FDA Commissioner Hamburg “didn’t know of any letter.” The FDA spokesperson does not deny this – but suggests that when Dorgan talked to the FDA Commissioner a letter was under consideration. Notice the phrase “at the time, no decision had been made on whether or not to send a letter” – the idea being that there was the possibility of a letter, it was just under consideration.

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