In an Aggressive Move, OIG Usurps FDA Authority to Investigate Employees
In comparison to the Food and Drug Administration, "OIG investigators can more appropriately handle sensitive internal employee misconduct inquiries because OIG investigators are entirely independent of the programs and officials being investigated," wrote Daniel Levinson, Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services to Andrew C. von Eschenbach, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, on September 6. Further slapping the Commissioner on the wrist, the letter boldly declares to von Eschenbach the Inpector General's intention to terminate the Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties negotiated in 1998. The letter states, "Increased congressional and media scrutiny regarding allegations of potential criminal violations of Federal conflict-of-interest statutes and regulations involving FDA and other officials in the Department has resulted in OIG's devoting increased attention and resources to ethics issues. As a result, OIG investigators and attorneys have developed significant expertise in handling these complex cases."
Commissioner von Eschenbach was unwilling to accept Levinson's decision without offering a carefully crafted reply. Though von Eschenbach is willing to discuss implementation of the decision, he felt the need to put the Memorandum of Understanding "in historical perspective and to correct some of the misleading impressions your note to me may create to readers who are not familiar with the facts."
November 30 became the effective date of the change. In a press release, Senator Chuck Grassley noted, “Cutting the tie is good for the public. It strengthens the role of the Inspector General. And in our system, the Inspectors General are vitally important independent watchdogs within the federal bureaucracy.”
