We've had posts recently about people switching from the regulator to the regulated company. Here's the most recent example.
The company at issue makes products using a very popular drug with short and even medium term benefits, but with some well-recognized side effects.
That link is to a for pay site
Sorry, NYT site. I pulled it up even though not a subscriber. The same story has run in a lot of media outlets.
Excellent example of the revolving door between government regulators and regulated. This goes on with all government agencies.
Yes Magnus! They know the regs, the weak links and --have friends in the agency!
"Offer this guy a very lucrative contract. He has friends and influence."
Currumpaw
They’re all just a bunch of evil souls that only care about profiting off the sick and no real concern for trying to actually get people’s health back😒
Really? All of them are evil? None have any real concern for their patients’ health?
Is it possible that there are indeed a handful of bad actors (which I find plausible), and they get outsized levels of attention in the media, and this creates an (inaccurate) impression that this is overwhelmingly pervasive?
I understand the frustration and cynicism. But the world simply isn’t a black and white place. I acknowledge that it can seem that way, depending, to a large extent, on our sources of information.
And the problem with that is what exactly?
It's not a problem for me. I was already aware of such a serious conflict built into our "greatest system in the world." But I thought I'd bring it to the attention of others.
That tells us exactly where your loyalties lie.
No problem at all...
But the song said...
Future's Looking Bright, I gotta Wear Shades!
I have seen it my past profession at DOD, but I don’t see a problem with it because the gov employee knows all the rules and regulations and let me tell ya in DOD there is a ton of regulations and we always had problems with vendors not understanding the processes. When a gov employee moved on to a vendor everything went much smoother. The present gov employee and gov contractors know this person but neither of us broke the rules, we absolutely couldn’t break the rules.
I'm somewhat familiar with those rules. and while they are well intentioned, like all such rules, they are imperfect. Do you think vendors (to use your term), when seeking to hire a DOD employee, have no interest in who that employee knows and will probably return his or her calls? My experience is that DOD Contract Managers generally follow the rules more rigidly than R&D project technical managers.
It’s been a common place thing , in the 32 years ( going back 50 years ago ) I was in government medical ( VA Medical Center ) that people that retired or quit ….. moved over to medical sales or pharma. The private companies depended on your medical experience and connections in the system. Nothing remotely new about that, same as it ever was.
Addendum: frankly , government CRS retirement was soooooo pathetic that , you’d be lucky to get an offer from the private sector using your government experience and knowledge of the regulations, HIPPA, etc. . There was no way you could live on that money ( and if you get a government retirement, there is no SS … double dipping was abolished ) …
I'm sure there's a sensible balance to be had.
I think your example would be more pertinent if you had worked for the Air Force managing countermeasure R&D solicitations and contracts. Then you were hired by Northrup Grumman to be the business development manager for a new countermeasures R&D group. We both know that happens all the time. Folks who make that sort of change (and perhaps the subject FDA fellow) sometimes say, "That's my expertise, Am I supposed to only accept jobs outside my field of expertise?" Different shades of gray here, IMHO.
I don't believe this happens all the time. What you described is against the law in the DOD. I won't say it never happens, it does, and people caught have been convicted or at least fired and the companies fined. Are there people who are in influential positions but don't directly control the contracts who switch to the contractor world, yes that does happen and I sometimes wonder how it's permissible in some cases, but not people who moved from a DOD position overseeing a contract for company X directly into their counterparts position in company X. Just prior to retiring from the Air Force, I managed a large contract with multiple contractors performing. Like anyone in my position, I had to get a legal ruling detailing what I could and could not do after leaving the military. I was banned from working for any of those companies for 1 year, and could not perform any work on the contract I managed for the life of that contract.
There are rules and laws against this sort of thing, but it does seem that the government medical community seems to be exempt from those. I heard the same thing happened with Purdue and their sales of oxycontin. I don't see how a government official regulating a certain drug should be permitted to leave the government and go directly into a position with the company. There is too much temptation by the regulator to go easy on companies so they can make sure they have a cushy private job waiting for them when they decide to leave the government.
There is no such thing anymore as ‘the rule of law’.
Just working between public or private jobs as opportunities are available is not a problem. Becomes a problem when revolving doors may allow regulation capture or simply conflict of interests or insufficient scrutiny. Lawyers always say that justice should be done and also seen to be done. In the UK, Lord Hoffman's relationship to Amensty Int. was a problem in the Pinochet case, not because he might be influenced by it in anyway, but so as not to give rise to any doubt as to his decision (even when he was not deciding the case solo).
The first article below shows the danger of revolving doors in Pharma. The last one relates to patents and the one in the middle is a general academic article
rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-c...
Hmmm? A 20 year veteran? Can we say --pension? Other perks? Maybe lifetime health insurance and prescription drugs?
He "recused himself from his work at the FDA while he searched for new job opportunities" Hmmm? While getting the last days needed to make 20 years? Hmmm? Maybe collecting his salary and benefits while looking for those new opportunities?
I am not singling him out or condemning him. He is the norm. Who wouldn't tweak their benefits when leaving an employer? These government agencies need an overhaul.
Nice find dhccpa but not surprising.
Currumpaw
I'm left to wonder if the Govt has non-compete clauses like commerical enterprises. That would prevent scenarios like this at least for a time, some are 2 years, others even more like 5 years where you couldn't leave a company and work for a direct competitor or in any way with any regulatory umbrella that is involved with the company's contracts, etc. Or even take corporate secrets and use them to your benefit in another company O.o
But it's only natural that you take your experience and knowledge and use it to your benefit in regard to employment. Not in a bad way does that imply... So you know the ins/outs of an agency you're now going to deal with, great! And until there's malfeasance exhibited, there's no reason to project it on everyone because there's been a bad apple exposed here or there.
New treatments and disgusting news on the pharma industry 
Double time seems official?
Travel Insurance for a cruise?
