Friends in High Places

U.S. Congressman Maurice Hinchey says the Food and Drug Administration's chief counsel "is aggressively intervening against the public on behalf of drug companies and medical device manufacturers" and this "pattern of collusion" has "corrupted [the FDA's] mission to protect the public health." Daniel Troy, who lobbied for drug and tobacco companies before being appointed as USDA counsel, reportedly told drug companies to inform him of lawsuits so that the FDA could strengthen their defense. "Make it sound like a Hollywood pitch," he advised. Troy has filed USDA briefs on behalf of former client Pfizer, SmithKline Beecham Consumer Products and GlaxoSmithKline.