LETTER TO EDITOR: Tooth unfairy
Jan Drew
Thursday, December 10, 2009
LETTER TO EDITOR: Tooth unfairy
The Washington Times' article about the health czar's conflicts of
interest could just as well have been written about Dr. Margaret A.
Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, who re-
entered government through the revolving door of Henry Schein Inc.,
the nation's No. 1 dental-products company ("Obama 'czar' was highly
paid chief of legally troubled firms," Page 1, Tuesday).
Having made over a million dollars for the light work of being a
Schein corporate director, Dr. Hamburg signed an ethics contract
pledging not to participate in any activity affecting Schein so long
as she held stock or stock options in that company. Then she
figuratively tore up the ethics agreement, participating in the rule-
making for dental amalgam (so-called silver fillings), even though
Schein sells more amalgam than any other company.
After checking her stock option's value on June 30, Dr. Hamburg
insisted on convening a policy meeting on July 1 about the amalgam
rule so that she could provide "feedback" to the staff and review the
rule's "next steps." She then waited until the rule was a fait
accompli before purportedly withdrawing (though never actually filing
a recusal document). While telling American consumers that she was
recused from the issue "based on the requirements of federal ethics
laws and the standard of ethical conduct," Dr. Hamburg reassured her
corporate benefactor that her "friendships" at Schein "will outlast
the period of my recusal."
The resulting amalgam rule allows Schein to market amalgam without
disclosing the very presence of mercury to consumers, even though this
neurotoxin is amalgam's chief component. It is a 180-degree reversal
of Republican Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach's pro-consumer policy
on amalgam, which included a consumer Web site that warned parents and
pregnant women that mercury from amalgam can cause neurological damage
to children and unborn babies.
With Dr. Hamburg disregarding her ethical obligations to the
industry's benefit, it's no wonder that right after the rule issued,
Schein's general counsel e-mailed the commissioner that the company is
"indebted" to her for her work at FDA.
CHARLES G. BROWN
National counsel
Consumers for Dental Choice
Washington
Peter B
"Jan Drew" <jdrew...@aol.com> wrote in message
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> http://www3.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/10/tooth-unfairy/print/
>
> Thursday, December 10, 2009
> LETTER TO EDITOR: Tooth unfairy
Do you attribute your senility to the mercury in your mouth?