FDA chief who wanted to ban vaping in RICO lawsuit
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In 2009, President Barak Obama nominated Dr. Margaret Hamburg for Commissioner of the FDA as a political appointee. The suit alleges that Dr. Hamburg and her husband had made large donations to Hillary Clinton’s campaigns, and to the Clinton Foundation. And that they “gave political contributions and gratuities to President Obama to induce him to nominate her to be appointed as FDA Commissioner.”
“Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg was nominated as a result of huge political and other gratuities to Hillary Clinton and The Clinton Foundation, and at Mrs. Clinton’s recommendation.”
The suit further charges that “During the confirmation process before Congress, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, acting in concert with her husband, Peter F. Brown, at all material times the Co-CEO of a hedge fund named Renaissance Technologies, L.L.C., failed to disclose to Congress and other relevant authorities, her and her husband’s clear-cut conflict of interest –specifically, that Renaissance Technologies, L.L.C. held hundreds of millions of dollars of Johnson & Johnson stock, the manufacturer of the deadly drug, Levaquin.”
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Could be some election fodder for Bernie or Trump....
“Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg was nominated as a result of huge political and other gratuities to Hillary Clinton and The Clinton Foundation, and at Mrs. Clinton’s recommendation.”
The suit further charges that “During the confirmation process before Congress, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, acting in concert with her husband, Peter F. Brown, at all material times the Co-CEO of a hedge fund named Renaissance Technologies, L.L.C., failed to disclose to Congress and other relevant authorities, her and her husband’s clear-cut conflict of interest –specifically, that Renaissance Technologies, L.L.C. held hundreds of millions of dollars of Johnson & Johnson stock, the manufacturer of the deadly drug, Levaquin.”
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Could be some election fodder for Bernie or Trump....
- Apr 2, 2009
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The lawsuit at
also states that Renaissance Technologies (Hamburg's husband's company) held $360 million in Lorillard stock in 2011, more than the value of its J&J stock.
In 2011, Lorillard was facing FDA regulatory threats on its menthol cigarette Newport. Although the FDA TPSAC urged a ban on menthol cigarettes (which was struck down in federal court due to conflict of interest by 3 TPSAC members), the FDA never proposed a menthol cigarette ban (er regulation).
Wonder how much Hamburg's husband's stock investments had to do with her decision to not propose a menthol cigarette ban.
also states that Renaissance Technologies (Hamburg's husband's company) held $360 million in Lorillard stock in 2011, more than the value of its J&J stock.
In 2011, Lorillard was facing FDA regulatory threats on its menthol cigarette Newport. Although the FDA TPSAC urged a ban on menthol cigarettes (which was struck down in federal court due to conflict of interest by 3 TPSAC members), the FDA never proposed a menthol cigarette ban (er regulation).
Wonder how much Hamburg's husband's stock investments had to do with her decision to not propose a menthol cigarette ban.
- Apr 2, 2009
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Correction on title of this thread.
Hamburg unlawfully banned e-cigarettes in 2009, and then Hamburg (and others at FDA and DHHS) made false fear mongering claims about vaping to scare the public (including federal judges who were adjudicating the lawsuit filed by SE and NJOY) to defend her unlawful e-cig ban (which she never apologized for, nor provided and corrections or clarifications for after losing in court).
Hamburg unlawfully banned e-cigarettes in 2009, and then Hamburg (and others at FDA and DHHS) made false fear mongering claims about vaping to scare the public (including federal judges who were adjudicating the lawsuit filed by SE and NJOY) to defend her unlawful e-cig ban (which she never apologized for, nor provided and corrections or clarifications for after losing in court).
After leaving the FDA, but before the RICO lawsuit:
Former FDA chief Margaret Hamburg speaks out
Former FDA chief Margaret Hamburg speaks out
...
I knew when I read the article there was a tobacco link. I was going to google that company. Chilling.....absolutely chilling. Another example of our government at it's finest. Now I know why Obama was against e-cigarettes (the little companies unable to pay the FDA fees). Which I thought was odd because he was (is) a smoker. I'd like to see his stock portfolio. Big tobacco wants the whole pie and he and Hillary are trying to give it to them. You are right Kent, good fodder for the candidates.
This quote from Margaret Hamburg struck a chord with me ...
Most people will read this, and understandably think "How unfair" ...
Which makes sense, if you assume that a person works a typical 40 hour plus workweek at a specific location. Sharing an office sucks, hot-bunking with a desk is even more inconvenient ...
But I can tell you after 40 plus years with defense contractors, that senior consultants are often assigned shared office space if they are only on site for a few hours per month, or less ...
Many of them are "prima donnas", and still demand an exclusive private office, even in overcrowded facilities where full-time staff members are already doubling up, or working in telemarketer boiler room conditions ...
Its very demoralizing to see a prime office sitting locked and vacant 90 percent of the time while the occupant is Skyping from home in their bathrobe, and you're sitting so close to you're cube neighbor that you can smell his corn chips ...
If the FDA is requiring absentee employees to use shared work areas when on site, at least they're doing something right ...
Most people will read this, and understandably think "How unfair" ...
Which makes sense, if you assume that a person works a typical 40 hour plus workweek at a specific location. Sharing an office sucks, hot-bunking with a desk is even more inconvenient ...
But I can tell you after 40 plus years with defense contractors, that senior consultants are often assigned shared office space if they are only on site for a few hours per month, or less ...
Many of them are "prima donnas", and still demand an exclusive private office, even in overcrowded facilities where full-time staff members are already doubling up, or working in telemarketer boiler room conditions ...
Its very demoralizing to see a prime office sitting locked and vacant 90 percent of the time while the occupant is Skyping from home in their bathrobe, and you're sitting so close to you're cube neighbor that you can smell his corn chips ...
If the FDA is requiring absentee employees to use shared work areas when on site, at least they're doing something right ...
Typical gov't poor mouthing. A claim for bigger budgets. It goes with every level of gov't down to teachers. They have better benefits than most private workers. Some salaries are quite lucrative - for producing nothing but regulations on the real working people and businesses that employ them.
Interesting. Made me want to read a bit about it.
Apparently, there was an executive order "Freeze the Footprint" in 2013, and then a "Reduce the Footprint" last year, mandating consolidation via shared office space, working from home, etc. It's all part of budget cutting, and everyone knows those kinds of changes are happening in the private sector, too.
I saw that the FDA put a rosy spin on their compliance report for that first step. I've never had any work situation even remotely like cubicles, shared office space, or any office at all. Working in a cubicle would likely drive me insane.
When low-level managers score prime office real estate, they often acquire an inflated perception of their relative importance ...
And when hard-working associates with heavy workloads and long workdays are confined to constricted or exposed areas with no privacy, they become understandably disgruntled and unmotivated ...
One defense contractor (you would recognize the name) had a division where for years, new hires were placed at a lone desk in a shabby open area adjacent to a noisy machine shop and a busy corridor, under constant scrutiny from passers-by. Many of the best and brightest left with the next job offer. It was fraternity hazing at its worst, and it took a lawsuit to put a stop to it ...
Its often not about cost savings or efficiency, just spiteful office politics and dominance games ...
And when hard-working associates with heavy workloads and long workdays are confined to constricted or exposed areas with no privacy, they become understandably disgruntled and unmotivated ...
One defense contractor (you would recognize the name) had a division where for years, new hires were placed at a lone desk in a shabby open area adjacent to a noisy machine shop and a busy corridor, under constant scrutiny from passers-by. Many of the best and brightest left with the next job offer. It was fraternity hazing at its worst, and it took a lawsuit to put a stop to it ...
Its often not about cost savings or efficiency, just spiteful office politics and dominance games ...
Correction. The lawsuit was filed before she left the FDA, and was amended after she left:
Former FDA commissioner Hamburg, Johnson & Johnson and others sued for alleged racketeering and other claims over dangerous drug Levaquin
It's why she left. It was all over the news when it happened.
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