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During the Trump administration, FDA and CDC employees said that they did not report political interference in their scientific work because they feared retaliation, among other reasons, according to a new Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday.

The report was released as the FDA’s FOIA office also provided a peek behind the scenes of some of the FDA political appointees’ wheeling and dealing from the last administration, and as former President Trump sought a vaccine authorization prior to the election, and pushed for the controversial hydroxychloroquine EUA decision (later revoked).

The GAO offers new recommendations on how the CDC, FDA, NIH, and ASPR can better combat political interference in their scientific decisionmaking via training and new SOPs.

Thanks to interviews and a confidential hotline, employees at CDC, FDA, and NIH told GAO they observed incidents that they perceived to be political interference “but did not report them” due to fears of retaliation, being unsure how to report the issues, and believing agency leaders were already aware.

“To help reduce employees’ fear of retaliation and encourage appropriate reporting, agencies could include information on whistleblower protections, and clarify any reporting requirements for employees who believe they observed potential political interference in scientific decision-making,” GAO said.

The accountability office also called for more training as only NIH currently includes information on political interference in scientific decision making as part of its scientific integrity training.

But none of the agencies in GAO’s review — CDC, FDA, NIH, and ASPR — have so far developed procedures specific to reporting and addressing potential political interference in scientific decision-making.

While FDA officials told GAO that FDA did not receive any formally reported instances of potential political interference from 2010 through 2021, the FDA officials also told the GAO that the agency is planning to develop new procedures for reporting and addressing political interference in scientific decision-making.

Among the 7 recommendations, the GAO calls on FDA Commissioner Rob Califf to ensure that procedures for reporting and addressing potential political interference in scientific decision-making are developed and documented, including adding a definition of political interference. And Califf should ensure that FDA employees and contractors performing scientific activities are trained on how to report allegations of political interference in scientific decision-making, GAO said.

https://endpts.com/gao-fda-workers-feared-retaliation-for-coming-clean-on-political-interference-behind-scientific-decisions/?source=patrick.net