CASAA Call to Action: I have always maintained that the FDA is a corrupt bureaucracy. It’s systemic and can be traced back for decades. The previous Commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Margaret Hamburg resigned in March of 2015 and since this time, myself and many others have correctly predicted that Dr. Califf would be next in line. I was so sure of this that in March of 2015 Califf joined my Vaping Hall of Shame. Califf was hand picked by Hamburg to continue to carry the torch for a corrupt bureaucracy. She was responsible for his appointment as FDA Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco. With the understanding (my guess) that he would be next in line to head the FDA.
Dr. Califf is bought and paid for by the Pharmaceutical industry. Think Chantix as one example. A competing product (NRT) to the vaping industry, created and sold by Pfizer Inc. He is the most conflicted Senior executive at the FDA and that’s saying a lot since Zeller was a lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical industry and Hamburg had ties to Henry Schein Inc. Shortly after the Califf appointment, which requires Senate confirmation, we find this “spin”:
“A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, Kevin Griffis, said that Dr. Califf had been through “a comprehensive screening process for conflicts of interest,” and that officials had “put in place measures to ensure that he is appropriately recused from matters that would give rise to conflicts,” including the new cholesterol medicines.” Source Seriously! You must be joking but your not! Talk about the “fox guarding the hen house” Everything Califf does at the FDA is a conflict. He should never have been appointed and the Senate should reject his confirmation. Califf’s actions and those of the FDA are morally and ethically repugnant.
I covered Dr. Califf’s conflicts in this post. To save you some time, here is a quick extract from my previous post:
“A disclosure statement on the website of Duke Clinical Research Institute says “Robert M. Califf, MD, reports receiving research grant support from NovartisPharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson/Scios, Lilly, Merck, and Schering Plough, and consulting fees from Annenberg, Aterovax, Bayer/Ortho McNeil,BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, WebMd/theheart.org, Johnson and ohnson/Scios, Kowa Research Institute, McKinsey & Company, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi Aventis, and Schering Plough, and has an equity position with NITROX, LLC. “
And there’s more! In disclosure information for a 2013 article in Circulation, Dr. Califf’s also lists financial links to Gambro, Regeneron, Gilead, AstraZeneca, Roche, others companies and equity positions in four medical companies. The medical website Medscape discloses that Dr. Califf “served as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant or trustee for Genentech” as well as for Medscape LLC/theheart.org. Portola Pharmaceuticals says Dr. Califf served on the Board of Directors until he was appointed FDA Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco.” Source
Dr. Califf’s confirmation hearing’s will be conducted by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. This page contains data on all the members of this Committee. Will Senate confirmation hearings for Dr. Califf result in his rejection? I’m not very hopeful. I could certainly be wrong and perhaps when we have additional details of the confirmation hearings, we can contact all the members of this Committee and urge them to reject Dr. Califf.
EDIT/UPDATE On 1/17/16: It’s official! Califf is the new Commissioner of the FDA.