Charles S. Clark reports:
A once-secret move by the Food and Drug Administration to monitor the computer screens and keystrokes of five scientists suspected of press leaks in 2010 was blasted on Wednesday as a “Big Brother” tactic out of George Orwell’s 1984 and a damaging disservice to agency whistleblowers.
A joint report from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found that the monitoring of scientists who had complained that the FDA was giving approval to questionable medical devices was carried out with “insufficient authorization and guidelines,” included the “unlawful capturing of protected communications” (such as letters to Congress, attorneys or the Office of Special Counsel), lacked sufficient rationale and failed to honor whistleblower protections.
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