Not the PR that the FDA Was Hoping For

A front-page Washington Post story details how FDA workers used personal connections to direct a public-relations contract that should have been open for competitive bidding (as government contacts typically are) to a firm where the same FDA staff previously worked.

More specifically, the FDA worker in question utilized a loophole in the competitive bidding process – selecting a small firm based in Alaska which is exempt from having to compete for government contract competitively because of its ownership (Alaska Natives). That company, ANI, essentially agreed to act as a front, leaving the actual work to be done to a Washington D.C.-based firm, Qorvis Communications, which would have been subject to the competitive bidding process. Check out the ‘smoking gun’ emails:With unusual candor, people involved in the FDA deal discussed the fact that ANI was brought in so the FDA could work with Qorvis, e-mails show.

While the deal was being formulated last October, James Dunn, a private consultant who had dealings with ANI, sent the following e-mail to a Qorvis executive, who forwarded it to an FDA official: "ANI will gladly serve as a prime for Qorvis on the FDA deal, knowing that the agency would intend to direct them to you as a subcontractor to perform all the work."

This great read of an article also includes a nice take from an expert on such matters:

Steven Schooner, co-director of the government procurement law program at George Washington University, said he has rarely seen such a detailed example of officials and contractors working to avoid competition. "The story line is as bad as anything I've ever heard," he said. "It's not transparent. It's not competitive. It's not arm's length."

Yep, that sounds right.
-- Dylan Blaylock