Grassley probes FDA over whistleblower retaliation

The senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is demanding answers from the Obama administration over the Food and Drug Administration’s retaliation against whistleblowers who made contact with his office.

Six current and former FDA employees sued the government last week alleging that the agency pried into their personal email accounts and retaliated against them after they shared with Congress concerns about the approval process for medical devices. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a longtime champion of whistleblower rights, on Thursday released a letter that warns that FDA officials could be breaking the law by retaliating against the whistleblowers, at least one of whom was fired.

“It is troubling to me to see your Agency actively pursue the dismissal of an employee … not because they violated procedure and leaked genuinely confidential classified information, but simply because you ‘cannot trust him,’” Grassley wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. “During your confirmation hearing in the Senate in 2009 you stated, ‘I think whistleblowers serve a very important role in government in surfacing critical issues and concerns and making sure they’re addressed. As leader of the FDA, I would very much want to create a culture that enables all voices to be heard.’

“The actions taken by your agency … directly contradict your testimony. I ask that you honor your statements and ensure that all FDA employees feel comfortable expressing their opinion, both inside the Agency and to Congress.”

The letter goes on to demand that the FDA respond to several queries by Feb. 17, including:

• Who authorized the monitoring of the whistleblowers;

• Which of them have departed the agency, and under what circumstances;

• Did email monitoring only target the whistleblowers;

• Is the agency currently monitoring any of its current employees;

• Whether the agency has reassured its employees that they are allowed to communicate with Congress; and 

• Whether the agency has any procedures in place to ensure that congressional correspondence with agency employees remains confidential.

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