by A recent investigation published by The BMJ sheds light on potential financial entanglements between the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) heads and the drug and medical device industries they are tasked with regulating.
Although regulations prohibit FDA employees from owning financial interests in any organization significantly regulated by the FDA, and the FDA maintains that it takes conflicts of interest seriously, The BMJ’s investigation reveals that financial ties with the pharmaceutical industry are prevalent among the FDA’s leadership.
Peter Doshi, senior editor at The BMJ, uncovered that nine out of the past ten FDA commissioners have subsequently worked for the drug industry or served on the board of directors of a pharmaceutical company. One of these individuals is Margaret Hamburg, who led the FDA from 2009 to 2015.
Before and after her tenure at the FDA, Hamburg had financial relationships with companies regulated by the FDA. However, what sets Hamburg apart from her colleagues is that she was granted permission to hold financial interests in Renaissance Technologies (RenTec), an exclusive hedge fund managed by her husband’s company. The BMJ discovered that RenTec, during Hamburg’s time at the FDA, consistently invested in FDA-regulated drug companies.
This revelation raises concerns about the potential impact of these financial ties on the regulatory decisions made by FDA leaders, and whether they may influence the agency’s stance on various industry matters. The BMJ’s investigation underscores the importance of transparency and ethical conduct in regulatory roles.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public Source, Desk Research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it.
