All Things Whistleblower: A GAP Blog

CPSC Showdown Next Week

In a masthead editorial today, the Washington Post comes down on the correct side of an important and pressing issue GAP has been involved with – legislation to strengthen the role and power of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The bill allows that department, which is charged with regulating the safety of consumer products, to increase funding, introduce new and better safeguards, and make it easier and quicker for consumers to find out about potentially unsafe products.

But one crucial part of the bill is the enhanced anti-retaliation protections it would provide to workers who expose product safety concerns. The bill protects whistleblowers who work for retailers, manufacturers or distributors of a product in commerce. From the editorial:

The commission and manufacturers have also complained about new authority the legislation would give to state attorneys general to monitor and address safety hazards, as well as new protections that would be afforded whistleblowers in manufacturing. Like the consumer complaints database, however, these changes would promote transparency, oversight and general good behavior.

Two days ago, GAP signed onto a letter with 45 other good government and consumer protection organizations in support of the bill. And yesterday, GAP and Public Citizen disclosed Senate Republican Caucus “talking points” attacking the bill, with objections to whistleblower protections being the first item in the Republican Caucus broadside. The talking points were compiled by the office of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and constitute a wholesale attack on this legislation that protects America’s families from unsafe products. The talking points appeared to mirror objections from the National Association of Manufacturers.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Drug Import Mess Getting Deeper and Deeper

The latest article from the NYT covering the Heparin scandal and tragedy details how the Chinese plant suspected of processing deadly elements of the drug, which has killed at least four Americans, has a wide, unregulated array of sources for the raw product (pig intestine) necessary for Heparin’s production.

These suppliers are made up of small, family-style run factories from poor Chinese villages. The investigation found factories where:

“…floors had large puddles and drainage channels; the workshops were dilapidated and unheated; and steam from the production process fogged up the windows and soaked the walls.”

And what is China intending to do about this in the future? Well, yesterday brought a related development (from the AP). China has official taken the position that “importing countries are ultimately responsible for ensuring product safety.”

Add to these facts that late last month, the Government Accountability Office reported that it would take 13 years for the FDA to inspect every foreign drug plant importing to America under their current staff and technology restraints.

This is serious trouble.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Sign On to Help Patients Report Drug Safety Issues

For every 100 minutes of drug ads filled with happy and healthy looking people and a glossed-over list of side effects average Americans watch, they spend a minute with their doctor.  

Drug companies often fail to clearly present the benefits and risks of the products they advertise. Too often it isn’t until a drug is on the market and taken by millions of patients that safety problems emerge. The easier it is for patients to report side effects, the earlier the FDA will be able to detect safety hazards with medications and take action. That’s why GAP supports including a 1-800 number and web address in all TV drug ads.

In the coming weeks, the FDA will be deciding if drug ads on TV should include a 1-800 number and website where consumers can report side effects. Help Consumer Union, a friend of GAP, hit their goal of 50,000 signatures so the FDA hears consumer voices over drug industry lobbyists. Add your name to the petition now by going to www.prescriptionforchange.org. 

Thanks for taking 30 seconds to help improve drug safety! 

-- Sheila Fleischhacker

The Franz Gayl Case

A few weeks ago, the Associated Press broke news with the case of GAP client Franz Gayl, a civilian Marine Corps official who wrote a study indicating that the deaths or injuries of hundreds of Marines in Iraq could have been avoided if military officials had granted a 2005 request for MRAPs - vehicles designed to withstand attacks from improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Now, this AP article details how the Marine Corps has asked the Inspector General of the Pentagon to investigate allegations stemming from the report.

Additionally, as this USA Today piece shows, the Marine Corps have also ordered Gayl to stop working the report in question.

-- Dylan Blaylock

The Ag Lobby

The EPA is attempting to drop rules mandating factory farms to report levels of toxic gas emissions. This action is the result of agriculture industry lobbying.

According to the Washington Post, the EPA actually acknowledges that these emissions can pose health threats. But they still want to remove the rules anyway, justifying it by saying “local emergency responders don't use the reports, making them unnecessary.”

That’s bad reasoning, considering the several groups that do use the reports (the article sites “local air-quality agencies, environmental groups, and lawmakers”).

The mandate has been required since the ‘80s, and it doesn’t even set emission limits – it simply requires the reporting of such gas emissions, so that if local residents get sick, health officials can investigate what the cause may be.

Ah, agriculture industry lobbyists.

-- Dylan Blaylock

In Wake of Aguirre Case; S.E.C. Inspector General Promises Changes

Stemming from the case of GAP client Gary Aguirre, the new Inspector General at the Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) has promised that future internal investigations of agency fraud or abuse will be handled credibly.

Aguirre was an S.E.C. staff attorney who was fired three years ago after protesting that his S.E.C. superiors were hindering his effort to subpoena John Mack, now the CEO of Morgan Stanley, in an insider trading investigation of hedge fund Pequot Capital Management.

S.E.C. Inspector General David Kotz pledged to restore the integrity of his office in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley. An August report from the Senate Finance Committee, summarizing the findings of a year-long investigation into Aguirre’s case, details a laundry list of wrongdoing on the part of S.E.C. officials, stating not only that Aguirre was wrongfully retaliated against, but that the S.E.C. basically botched the investigation.   

-- Dylan Blaylock

Supreme Court Protects Medical Device Makers

Yesterday, a Supreme Court ruling granted immunity from personal injury lawsuits to the makers of medical devices that cause harm to patients, provided the device originally obtained legitimate FDA approval. This means that, despite the FDA’s continuing incompetence in protecting public safety, if the FDA green lights a medical device that injures you, you have no legal recourse against the company who made it.

Another case is slated to be argued on Monday at the Supreme Court, one that will specify if patients can still sue medical device makers if FDA guidelines are not followed. Unfortunately, analysts believe this recent decision means that case will probably fall on the side of industry as well.

The medical device industry, of course, is ecstatic about the decision. In a piece by the New York Times’ Gardiner Harris (the second link above), he writes:

A result [of the decision], said David Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, is that the public is facing the worst of both worlds: a government health agency that cannot protect them and rules that block them from winning compensation when injured.

Vladeck is absolutely right – the FDA cannot protect us. Worse yet, a similar case that will probably be argued in October will decide whether the makers of prescription drugs will be shielded from these types of lawsuits.

There’s an excellent audio interview with NYT reporter Gardiner Harris, which can be found midway down the first article’s Web page on the left. Check it out.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Bad Decision for Government Accountability

Yesterday, the Supreme Court refused to hear a case brought forth by the ACLU against the Bush administration for its controversial warrantless wiretapping program, a scandal partially exposed by an AT&T whistleblower.

This big blow to government accountability, and the checks-and-balances system as a whole, is made worse by the rational SCOTUS used to make its decision. From the Los Angeles Times:

…Bush's lawyers successfully invoked two legal doctrines making it difficult to challenge the government's anti-terrorism policies.

First, they said, challengers must show that they had their phone calls or e-mails intercepted. Otherwise, they have no "standing" to sue because they have no injury to complain of. Second, the government said, the entire program was secret, and under the "state secrets privilege," plaintiffs cannot obtain information on whether they were targeted for surveillance. When combined, the two doctrines make it almost impossible for most challengers to win a hearing in court.

So, if American citizens want to challenge secret (and illegal) actions, SCOTUS believes we can’t, unless we know enough about who the actions specifically affected. Which remains a government secret, despite obvious illegality. And citizens already have evidence the wrongdoing happened on a grand scale.

Bad decision for government accountability.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Google Censors Media Outlet Supportive of UN Whistleblowers

Internet goliath Google has discontinued listing stories from Inner City Press, a United Nations-focused media organization, through its Google News program. In GAP's opinion, Inner City Press is the most effective and important media organization for UN whistleblowers.

Several important UN whistleblower claims and stories that are not picked up by mainstream media outlets are covered thoroughly by Inner City Press. This outlet’s continued coverage of important issues of accountability result in outside pressure and real, effective change to strengthen worker rights at the international body.

In the wake of media pressure, Google has stated that it will put Inner City Press back up on the Google News Search in a week or so.

Looking at what originally transpired, however, in a short, nondescript email sent to Inner City Press last week, Google stated the following:

“We periodically review news sources, particularly following user complaints, to ensure Google News offers a high quality experience for our users. When we reviewed your site we've found that we can no longer include it in Google News.”

What interesting about this statement is the ‘user complaints’ notion. Just who would be complaining about Inner City Press? The outlet definitely has its enemies…

For example, one key story the Inner City Press has been covering is the continuing controversy surrounding corruption, fraud and abuse of authority at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). During 2007, GAP received allegations from four UNDP whistleblowers who had been subjected to retaliation as UNDP management sought to destroy the careers of people who exposed serious misconduct. Using administrative and bureaucratic maneuvers, UNDP has thus far escaped accountability for cronyism at the highest levels, diversion of funds, improper sole-source bidding, and political interference in the affairs of UNDP by a member state. Inner City Press has been the most reliable and consistent source of coverage on this issue.

Click here to check out GAP’s full press release.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Possibly Tainted Meat Already Consumed

Three weeks after a video surfaced showing gross mistreatment of cattle at one of its plants, a California-based meat company has issued what is being billed as “the largest beef recall in history.”

Since the company is recalling its products from the last two years (issued after Feb. 1, 2006) however, the USDA admits that most of the product has already “probably been consumed.” The recall covers 143 million pounds of beef, but the actual amount returned will be much less.

Oh, and one primary consumer of the possibly tainted beef over the last two years? Schoolchildren, as the meat company was a huge supplier of school lunch programs throughout the country.

One interesting bit in the New York Times article was:

Technically, the Department of Agriculture does not have the authority to recall meat. However, it can withdraw its inspectors from a plant, putting pressure on a company to issue a recall.

With food safety a growing issue in America, and recall after recall scaring consumers, don’t you think the USDA should have the authority to do this?

-- Dylan Blaylock