Andrew von Eschenbach

Thinking again about this ReGen matter, I realized I didn't pay much attention to where focus should be due. And it seems there is some dirt to be re-exposed here.

So we turn to former FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach. Described by some as a "silver-haired, lasso-tongued" Bush family friend, von Eschenbach actually has a history of conflicts of interest and political dealings, two of which I think are pretty severe:

1. Providing a false written testimony on events concerning approval of the antibiotic Ketek, which has been linked to 18 deaths and at least 134 cases of liver damage. In 2007 the FDA finally revised their review, adding a black box warning to the drug, the strongest form of warning.

2. The anti-diabetic drug Avandia scandal: von Eschenbach stunningly stripped power from FDA safety supervisor Rosemary Johann-Liang after she approved a black box warning of the risk for congestive heart failure. Eight years later the FDA issued an alert about a 43 percent increased risk for heart attacks and increased risk of death.

Questions were also raised about a triple conflict of interest by simultaneously being part of the FDA, National Cancer Instutitute as well as C-Change, a forum for cancer organizations that von Eschenbach founded. And he was even accused of "complete and utter disrespect for congressional authority and hence the law" by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA).

So I find the focus on the four Congressmen a bit surprising. Who thinks the FDA is completely unbiased from political pressure? And who doesn't believe companies use lobbying to their benefit? It seems the Congressmen weren't defiling the virgin as much as they were paying the prostitute. And where the Chinese executed their FDA director Zheng Xiaoyu for bribes (okay, he did take more than $832,000 and did approve fake drugs), von Eschenbach got off comparatively easier when Ketek and Avandia killed people too. Plus when even the ReGen story broke out, not much attention was paid to von Eschenbach. I just hope Obama's pick, Margaret Hamburg (appointed this May) will be a step in the right direction.