Maurice Hinchey, U.S. Representative from the 22nd District of New York

Maurice Hinchey is a six-term Member of the U.S. Congress. He represents the heavily-wooded 22nd District of New York State. According to his official web site:

"In 1999 Hinchey wrote an amendment to intelligence reauthorization legislation that forced the declassification of documents that revealed the active role the Nixon Administration --especially Henry Kissinger-- played in the illegal overthrow of Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president of Chile, in 1973. He was one of the first and most outspoken opponents of the 2003 war in Iraq. He has traveled extensively in the Middle East, Asia, Northern Africa and Europe."

Representative Hinchey held a news conference today to make the point that the Chief Counsel of the Food and Drug Administration is hard at work serving the interests of the drug companies the FDA is supposed to be regulating, rather than the interests of the public that is paying his salary..

Here's a short version of Representative Hinchey's charges:

"Under the direction of Chief Counsel Daniel Troy, the first political appointee to hold the post, the Food and Drug Administration has been weighing in on state civil suits on behalf of drug companies and medical device manufacturers. What makes this particularly unusual is the fact that the court in these cases has not requested FDA's opinion; Mr. Troy is actively seeking out such cases and coordinating with defense counsel as to how the agency can best assist the corporations. This behavior runs completely contrary to the FDA's stated mission of protecting the public from being harmed by the food and drugs they consume."

For more of this argument, and a substantial collection of links to supporting material, click here.

After the press conference, which was attended by Kim Witzcak, widow of alleged Zoloft victim Woody Witzcak, Congressman Hinchey spoke exclusively and extensively with Etopia Media Medical News Network about several cases in which, he said, FDA Chief Counsel Daniel Troy aggressively intervened in pending litigation involving drug companies, on the side of the drug companies. The Congressman also spoke about other, related, political phenomenon, including the possible end of democratic government within the United States.

Also after the news conference, Representative Hinchey introduced an amendment to the 2005 Agriculture Appropriations Bill which took away $500,000 from the budget of the FDA's Chief Counsel and transferred it to the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communication (DMAC), the office responsible for monitoring drug advertisements.

The amendment was adopted, without opposition.

To listen to this exclusive and far-ranging Etopia Media Medical News Network interview with New York Congressman Maurice Hinchey, click here.