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Lauren Ellerman

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Rep. Stupak Nudges FDA Toward Subpoena Power
 
Now that Rep. Bart Stupak has helped push FDA Chief Andrew von Eschenbach into asking for more money for inspections, the congressman wants to prod the commissioner into asking for something else new: subpoena power. Stupak, the Michigan Democrat who runs the investigations panel of the House Commerce Committee, wrote von Eschenbach last week formally soliciting his opinion on the FDA’s need for subpoena authority. Well, nudging him in that direction seems more like it. Stupak would like to add the enforcement tool to a controversial bill on drug importation pending in the House. The FDA hasn’t had authority to demand certain documents from regulated companies short of going to the Justice Department for help. But the agency hasn’t asked for subpoena power either. That shortcoming has annoyed key Democrats on the House Commerce Committee since at least 2002 because they think the absence of subpoena power has limited the FDA’s inve stigations of drugmakers.”

Alicia Mundy, Wall Street Journal Health Blog, 5-20-08
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/05/20/rep-stupak-nudges-fda-toward-subpoena-power/?mod=WSJBlog