[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 29, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TOBACCO PRODUCTS SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE

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                           HON. VIRGINIA FOXX

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 29, 2011

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise again today to call attention to a 
significant conflict of interest within the Tobacco Products Scientific 
Advisory Committee (TPSAC)--a conflict that can and should cast doubt 
on its recent report to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
regarding the effect of menthol cigarettes on the public health.
  Last year, I submitted a statement for the Record referencing a 
Boston Globe article entitled ``FDA Lax on Conflicts of Interest,'' and 
I'm saddened to see that this problem continues to this day at the FDA. 
Since the FDA announced the nine voting members of TPSAC, questions 
have surfaced regarding financial and ethical conflicts of interest 
among several of the members. Rather than investigate the alleged 
conflicts and eliminate the shadow of doubt looming over the committee, 
the FDA has stood idly by as these conflicts have festered and 
threatened to undermine the very purpose TPSAC was formed to serve.
  Several members appointed to TPSAC have substantial financial 
interests at stake in the decisions rendered by the Committee. One 
member is an active consultant to drug companies that manufacture 
smoking cessation products. Another member stands to make money on a 
patented new smoking cessation drug. Both of these members have also 
testified against tobacco companies in several legal proceedings. The 
conflicts could not be clearer.
  Now, we find that TPSAC has, as many of the original skeptics 
predicted, released a recommendation that, short of an outright ban, 
nevertheless notes that ``removal of menthol cigarettes from the 
marketplace would benefit the public health.'' Rather than accept 
TPSAC's report as an unbiased call to action, we are faced with the 
same controversy that should have been corrected more than a year ago.
  The people deserve a government free from the appearance of 
impropriety. They have entrusted the members of this Chamber, as well 
as officials appointed within the Administration, to enforce the law 
even-handedly and to engage in policy decisions unencumbered by 
conflicts of interest, personal biases, or unethical predispositions.
  The only solution is for FDA to reject the recommendation of TPSAC 
and appoint new, unbiased members to the committee in order to carry 
out the purpose of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control 
Act. The FDA owes the people a fair and untarnished recommendation on 
this important issue and I call on the FDA to take appropriate measures 
to remedy TPSAC's inane report and conclusions.

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