Last week, amid all the brouhaha over the did-Ranbaxy-sell-substandard-meds probe, we reported that Congress had launched an investigation of its own--into just how the FDA handled those allegations once it found out about them. Well, according to a new letter sent to the agency commissioner by the seemingly insatiable investigatory duo of Rep. John Dingell and Rep. Bart Stupak, the agency knew about the accusations for 18 months. And, they say, FDA didn't take steps to pull the products off the market or even tell pharmacists about the suspected problems.
"If true, these statements would call into serious questions whether the leadership of the Agency... [has] met even the minimum requirements" of its mission to police the drug market. The Congressmen want Andrew von Eschenbach to respond to the letter within two weeks.
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