F.D.A. Chief Quit Over Financial Disclosure Form, His Wife's Brother

[Guest guest]

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/politics/28fda.html?ex=1128571200 & en=a163e0c14\

38e8d6a & ei=5070 & emc=eta1

>

> F.D.A. Chief Quit Over Financial Disclosure Form,

> His Wife's Brother

> Says

>

> By STEPHANIE SAUL and ROBERT PEAR

> Published: September 28, 2005

> Lester M. Crawford's wife has told family members

> that an unintentional

> failure to disclose financial holdings prompted his

> sudden resignation

> as commissioner of food and drugs last week, her

> brother said

> yesterday.

>

> The former commissioner's wife,

> Crawford, discussed

> the resignation with her brother, W.

> III of Birmingham,

> Ala., over the weekend, Mr. said in a

> telephone interview.

>

> Mr. said Mrs. Crawford had told him that " if

> they had to do it

> over again, they'd put everything in a blind trust. "

>

> " They had a money manager, " he added, " and they

> thought they had

> divested. "

>

> Mr. , speaking broadly about the Crawfords'

> finances, did not say

> which particular holdings his sister had been

> referring to.

>

> But his comments appeared to be at odds with

> statements she made in an

> interview on Monday.

>

> In that interview, Mrs. Crawford rejected

> suggestions, made by a

> government official, that her husband had omitted

> material information

> from his financial disclosure statements.

>

> " If we have any money in the stock market, we sure

> don't have as much

> as most people do, " she said then. " I don't know why

> people are writing

> about our finances. It's crazy. "

>

> Dr. Crawford, reached by phone yesterday, said that

> he would not

> comment on whether his resignation had anything to

> do with his

> financial holdings.

>

> " I appreciate the opportunity, " he said, " but I

> don't have any comment

> on that. "

>

> The abruptness and mystery surrounding Dr.

> Crawford's departure, only

> two months after his Senate confirmation, have

> fueled speculation that

> he had investments in companies regulated by the

> F.D.A., which oversees

> the food, drug and cosmetics industries.

>

> A financial disclosure form filed by Dr. Crawford in

> February, nine

> days after President Bush announced an intention to

> nominate him

> commissioner, a post he then held on only an acting

> basis, listed a

> six-figure portfolio of mainly blue-chip stocks in

> companies like Home

> Depot, Dell, Staples and Bank of America. None of

> the holdings appeared

> to conflict with his role at the F.D.A.

>

> But Dr. Crawford's finances may be more complex than

> the form suggests.

> Mrs. Crawford's family owned a large pharmaceutical

> distribution

> company, Drug, that was sold in 1997 to

> AmeriSource Health, the

> forerunner to AmerisourceBergen, currently one of

> the nation's largest

> pharmaceutical wholesalers.

>

> Mrs. Crawford shared proceeds of that $140 million

> deal and, in 2002,

> became an heir to her mother's share of the sale,

> said Mr. , her

> brother.

>

> Mrs. Crawford said on Monday that her family's ties

> to the old

> Drug Company had had nothing to do with her

> husband's decision to

> resign. And Mr. said the financial holdings

> she referred to in

> his conversation with her over the weekend did not

> involve the family's

> company.

>

> Before being approved by the Senate on July 18, Dr.

> Crawford, a

> 67-year-old veterinarian and food safety expert,

> weathered a bruising

> confirmation process including accusations that he

> had had an

> extramarital affair with a subordinate at the F.D.A.

> His confirmation

> followed an investigation that found no merit to

> that claim.

>

> As for the F.D.A.'s new leadership, President Bush

> named Dr. C.

> von Eschenbach, the director of the National Cancer

> Institute, as

> acting commissioner on Friday, and Dr. von

> Eschenbach has said he will

> keep his position at the cancer institute while

> running the F.D.A.

>

> But yesterday Senator M. Kennedy of

> Massachusetts, the senior

> Democrat on the Senate health committee, said Dr.

> von Eschenbach should

> not try to juggle the two jobs.

>

> " There are intrinsic conflicts of interest between

> the role of N.C.I.

> director, who manages a research program that

> includes drug

> development, and the role of F.D.A. commissioner,

> whose responsibility

> is to review the safety and effectiveness of those

> drugs, " Mr. Kennedy

> said in a letter to the secretary of health and

> human services.

>

> Moreover, Mr. Kennedy, like Senator E.

> Grassley, Republican of

> Iowa, said that each job had immense

> responsibilities and that it was

> therefore not feasible for one person to run the two

> agencies.

>

> Pearson, a spokeswoman for the secretary,

> O. Leavitt,

> said yesterday that the administration was not

> changing its plan for

> Dr. von Eschenbach to keep his job at the cancer

> institute while

> serving as interim chief of the F.D.A.

>

> Mr. , meanwhile, said he had no question that

> his sister and her

> husband would weather the controversy over his

> resignation.

>

> " It's a tough, sad situation, " he said, " but they'll

> make it because

> they're very strong Christians. "

>

>