[Ip-health] US Congressman Greenwood resigns to head BIO - industry lobby group

[James Love]

This from thescientist.com...

*  Rumors of Greenwood's departure for BIO had been circulating for
several days. The antidepressant hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday,
July 20, but was cancelled 2 days earlier. No reason was given at the
time, prompting speculation that Greenwood had either been offered the
BIO position as a quid pro quo for squelching the long-awaited hearing
or, more likely, had decided not to preside over a gathering where
executives of major drug companies=97most of them members of BIO=97and top
FDA officials would be publicly and uncomfortably grilled.

*  But Energy and Commerce Committee spokesman Larry Neal called the
allegations "nonsense." "The subcommittee's chief counsel was called to
Los Alamos to look into the security issues there on Sunday, and he
would not have been back in time for the hearing," Neal told The
Scientist. "Since he is the most knowledgeable staff member on the
issue, it was decided to postpone the hearing." The antidepressant
hearing has been rescheduled for the second week in September, he said.

*  Vera Hassner Sharav, president of the Alliance for Human Research
Protection, a patients' rights organization, called Greenwood's
departure for BIO "disgraceful" and "corrupt." Canceling the
antidepressant hearing "confirms that the buyout of a US congressman has
been carried out as planned," she told The Scientist.

*  "We're not talking about someone who was known to be in the pockets
of industry," Sharav continued. "We're talking about somebody who was
the guy that everyone was counting on. He just finished bringing NIH to
its knees for its conflicts of interest."

*  But a senior Democratic congressional staff member said there is
nothing unusual or improper about Greenwood taking a job in an industry
in which he had been involved as a legislator. "That's what people do in
this town all the time. It's not exactly uncommon for someone to leave
the Hill or leave the administration for lobbying and trade groups," he
said.

*  Greenwood will be taking over from Carl B. Feldbaum, who has headed
BIO since its establishment in 1993. BIO has grown from 16 employees and
a $2.1 million budget to almost a 100-member staff with a $40 million
budget.


http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20040723/03

July 23, 2004

NIH critic to quit Congress
Pennsylvania Rep. James Greenwood will head Biotechnology Industry
Organization | By Ted Agres

Rep. James C. Greenwood (R-Penn.), known for his hardball investigations
into the healthcare industry, corporate scandals, and conflicts of
interest at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced yesterday
(July 22) that he will not seek re-election and instead will become
president of a major biotechnology trade association when his term
expires next January.

Greenwood has agreed to head the Biotechnology Industry Organization
(BIO), a Washington-based trade group that represents more than 1000
companies around the world. As chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Greenwood had spearheaded
probes into financial consulting arrangements that many of these
companies have with scientists and officials at the NIH, the Food and
Drug Administration, and other agencies.

"It's not easy to walk away from being a congressman, and I probably
wouldn't do it for any other organization," Greenwood told The Scientist
yesterday. "I believe from the work I've done in Congress on stem cell
research, somatic cell nuclear transfer, and other issues, that
biotechnology is going to transform the world dramatically. This is an
opportunity for me to ensure that this promise is not squelched by the
wrong kind of public policy, and that public policy enhances the efforts
to get these miracle drugs and products to people."

Greenwood plans to serve out the remaining portion of his term, but has
resigned chairmanship of the subcommittee. While continuing to serve on
the subcommittee, he said he would recuse himself from hearings that
might have potential conflicts of interest, including one investigating
pharmaceutical companies for allegedly withholding adverse information
on antidepressants and children. "And I probably need to stay out of the
NIH stuff," Greenwood said. "But there are lots of other things we're
doing."

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) will be
acting subcommittee chairman while vice chairman Rep. Greg Walden
(R-Ore.) will gavel future hearings.

Rumors of Greenwood's departure for BIO had been circulating for several
days. The antidepressant hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday, July
20, but was cancelled 2 days earlier. No reason was given at the time,
prompting speculation that Greenwood had either been offered the BIO
position as a quid pro quo for squelching the long-awaited hearing or,
more likely, had decided not to preside over a gathering where
executives of major drug companies=97most of them members of BIO=97and top
FDA officials would be publicly and uncomfortably grilled.

But Energy and Commerce Committee spokesman Larry Neal called the
allegations "nonsense."

"The subcommittee's chief counsel was called to Los Alamos to look into
the security issues there on Sunday, and he would not have been back in
time for the hearing," Neal told The Scientist. "Since he is the most
knowledgeable staff member on the issue, it was decided to postpone the
hearing." The antidepressant hearing has been rescheduled for the second
week in September, he said.

Vera Hassner Sharav, president of the Alliance for Human Research
Protection, a patients' rights organization, called Greenwood's
departure for BIO "disgraceful" and "corrupt." Canceling the
antidepressant hearing "confirms that the buyout of a US congressman has
been carried out as planned," she told The Scientist.

"We're not talking about someone who was known to be in the pockets of
industry," Sharav continued. "We're talking about somebody who was the
guy that everyone was counting on. He just finished bringing NIH to its
knees for its conflicts of interest."

But a senior Democratic congressional staff member said there is nothing
unusual or improper about Greenwood taking a job in an industry in which
he had been involved as a legislator. "That's what people do in this
town all the time. It's not exactly uncommon for someone to leave the
Hill or leave the administration for lobbying and trade groups," he said.

Greenwood will be taking over from Carl B. Feldbaum, who has headed BIO
since its establishment in 1993. BIO has grown from 16 employees and a
$2.1 million budget to almost a 100-member staff with a $40 million budget.

Recognizing possible negative ethical perceptions, Greenwood said he had
told BIO officials "that the only kind of advocacy that works is the
truth, the truth, and the truth. And I could not bring myself to do
anything other than that," he said yesterday.

"I want to help the promise of biotechnology by educating the public at
large and people in Congress as to what the promise is, and help dispel
some of the myths" about biotechnology, Greenwood said.
Links for this article
James Greenwood
http://www.house.gov/greenwood/

T. Agres, "NIH needs 'drastic changes,'" The Scientist, June 23, 2004.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20040623/02/

Joe Barton
http://joebarton.house.gov/

Greg Walden
http://walden.house.gov/

Alliance for Human Research Protection
http://www.ahrp.org/

--
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
http://www.cptech.org, mailto:james.love@cptech.org
tel. +1.202.387.8030, mobile +1.202.361.3040