A Steady Diet of Lobbyists Turned Regulators

"Jonathan L. Snare has been named to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration," writes Molly Ivins. "He used to be the lobbyist for Metabolife, the ephedra diet pill that attracted so much unpleasant attention. Ephedrine was finally barred in 2003 after the Food and Drug Administration decided it had caused 155 deaths. I guess we're lucky Bush didn't put Snare at the FDA." Snare is the second industry insider appointed to a high-level OSHA position by Bush, according to Ivins. "The assistant secretary is John Henshaw, a former health and safety chief for the chemical company Monsanto. In 40 months on the job, Henshaw axed three dozen proposed regulations."