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Ex-FDA head held shares in regulated
firms-paper
Reuters
October 26, 2005
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner
Lester Crawford or his wife owned stock in companies regulated by the agency as
late as 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Crawford, who abruptly resigned his post in September, filed a financial
disclosure form in June 2005 stating that he held shares in four companies
until 2004 that ethics officers believed he had sold in early 2002, the report
said.
The stocks in question are $15,001 and $50,000 holdings in Teleflex Inc.
(TFX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , Sysco Corp. (SYY.N: Quote, Profile,
Research) Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Embrex
Inc. (EMBX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and a $50,001 and $100,000 holding in
PepsiCo Inc. (PEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
The paper obtained the disclosure forms under the Freedom of Information
Act.
An ethics official sought more information on the June disclosures and noted
on the form that Crawford's broker would be sending more information, the
report said.
Unlike prior disclosures, the June form lacks an ethics official's
signature. A signature would indicated that the information complied with laws
and regulations, the paper reported.
It is not known whether ethics officials viewed the holdings as a conflict
of interest or whether these transactions were a cause of Crawford's decision
to leave the agency.
Both the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA,
and Crawford declined to comment, the paper said.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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