House committee launches review of FDA criminal office
Source: Reuters
POLITICS | Wed Sep 21, 2016 | 10:17am EDT
House committee launches review of FDA criminal office
By Sarah N. Lynch | WASHINGTON
A U.S. congressional committee has launched an examination of the Food and Drug Administration's criminal office, raising questions about the units management and handling of cases involving food, drugs and devices.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee told FDA Commissioner Robert Califf it is "examining management concerns" and "possible morale concerns with the field offices" of the Office of Criminal Investigations. The September 20 letter, signed by committee chairman Fred Upton and Tim Murphy, chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, seeks answers to a detailed list of questions by October 12.
Among other issues, the House committee questions why George Karavetsos, director of the Rockville, Maryland-based FDA criminal office, is allowed to run the unit from an office in South Florida, near his home.
An FDA spokeswoman said the agency received the letter and will respond to the committee directly.
The House questions come two weeks after Reuters reported how some FDA agents complain criminal office managers have forced them to pursue cases involving mislabeled foreign-imported injectable drugs, at the expense of cases with more potential to protect the public health.
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