John,

Joe Biden is narrowing down his choices to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)―and we are concerned. Dr. Janet Woodcock, who is reported to be a finalist, played a key role in one of the worst regulatory agency failures in U.S. history―when Johnson & Johnson convinced the FDA to allow a powerful anti-psychotic called Risperdal to be marketed for use on institutionalized seniors and children.

Essentially, Johnson & Johnson was looking for new markets for their drug Risperdal, and convinced the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)―with Dr. Woodcock at the helm―to allow it to be used as a sedative on vulnerable seniors and children! Johnson & Johnson paid a $2.2 billion¹ settlement for this―but if our voices aren’t heard, Dr. Woodcock could still become Commissioner of the FDA!

SIGN NOW: President Biden must NOT appoint Dr. Janet Woodcock as Commissioner of the FDA.

What’s at stake with this nomination is a choice between handing the FDA over to pharmaceutical corporations, or using it to advance public health. We believe that President Biden should choose the latter―but Dr. Woodcock represents the former.

Risperdal wasn’t an isolated incident. At the time that Dr. Woodcock led the CDER, she overruled scientific advisors and public health groups to side with opioid manufacturers at the dawn of the opioid epidemic.

More than 500,000 Americans have lost their lives to opioid-related overdoses since 1999, as opioid manufacturers disseminated false claims about the risks and benefits of their products. Dr. Woodcock’s division is there to prevent such mis-use―and utterly failed. Dr. Woodcock, in fact, testified before Congress that CDER should not require additional clinical trials or order label changes for drugs when their uses are broadened, which opened the door to mis-use.

Dr. Woodcock is currently serving as Acting Commissioner of the FDA―but we’ve heard that President Biden is considering her for the position permanently. This would be a slap in the face to the many victims of the opioid epidemic!

SIGN NOW: President Biden must appoint an FDA Commissioner who was not complicit in the opioid crisis.

Thanks,

Alex Lawson
Social Security Works

¹ https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/johnson-johnson-pay-more-22-billion-resolve-criminal-and-civil-investigations

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