Lawmaker: Examine ex-FDA chief's finances

WASHINGTON -- Federal investigators will be asked to launch an inquiry into allegations that former Food and Drug commissioner Lester Crawford failed to fully disclose financial holdings, a development that led to his abrupt resignation last week.

US Representative Maurice Hinchey, Democrat of New York, today will ask the federal inspector general's office to examine the reasons for Crawford's resignation.

''We're very hopeful that your office will able to shed some light on this matter, specifically as it pertains to the presence of conflicts of interest, such as inappropriate and undisclosed pharmaceutical company stock holdings," Hinchey wrote in a letter to the inspector general's office.

Crawford's brother-in-law described Crawford's unexpected departure as the act of a frustrated man who wanted to shield his wife, Catherine, from further inquiries.

''He's had a number of investigations coming into this job and going through the hearings. And he'd had enough," said William W. Walker III, 72, of Birmingham, Ala.

''I don't know what he's gone through, but I would like for him to exonerate himself," Walker said. ''But it's just hard to do in this day and time. And he said he wasn't going to put his wife through anymore of that."

Earlier this week, Walker told The New York Times that his sister shared the cash proceeds when family-owned Walker Drug Co. was sold in 1997 for $140 million. The company that bought it was itself acquired and ultimately became AmerisourceBergen Corp., the newspaper reported yesterday.

Some $100 million of the Walker Drug sale proceeds were used to pay a bank loan on the business, Walker said. The remainder was split by 40 relatives of William Walker, the company's founder. Walker and his brother, both company executives, received larger portions of the proceeds along with stock options that they quickly sold.

''When you read it in the paper, $140 million, you just assume that she's rich," Walker told The Boston Globe. ''Now, rich is relative; we all know that. She's comfortable."

With more than $54 billion in revenue, AmerisourceBergen, based in Valley Forge, Pa., ranks 23d on the Fortune 500 list. In addition to generic, brand-name, and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs that it purchases from manufacturers to distribute to hospitals, drug stores and nursing homes, AmerisourceBergen is also a major distributor of flu vaccine.

Julie Zawisza, an FDA spokeswoman, did not immediately return e-mails seeking an explanation of its policies regarding financial transactions involving companies regulated by the agency.

In an interview yesterday with Forbes.com, Crawford denied knowingly having financial conflicts and said his resignation was a result of 20-hour work days and endless FDA controversies. Crawford told the website he had been mulling retirement since early September and received retirement package details Sept. 15.

The financial disclosure form Crawford filed on Feb. 23, after President Bush nominated him to lead FDA, lists 13 assets, including stock in Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Dell Inc., The Home Depot Inc., and Microsoft Corp.

Crawford did not list proceeds from the Walker Drug Co. sale under Schedule B, which asks for information about transactions conducted by himself, his spouse or dependent children.

According to the US Office of Government Ethics, Crawford's filing status was as a presidential nominee whose appointment was subject to Senate confirmation. Such nominees are not required to complete the page seeking information about purchases or sales that yielded more than $1,000, nor do they have to provide details of gifts or travel reimbursements from a single source exceeding $260.

It is unclear whether the disclosure forms that Crawford filed with Health and Human Services include such details. Zawisza said the agency would release them through Freedom of Information Act requests, a process that can take months or years.

Hinchey's request will mark the second time this year that the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general has been asked to take a closer look at Crawford.

The first investigation, requested in April by US Senator Michael B. Enzi, Republican of Wyoming, found no merit to allegations that Crawford had an extramarital affair with a female staffer and promoted her based on the relationship. But the investigators reported significant discrepancies between Crawford's answers to questions about the allegations and those given by others within FDA.

The second inspector general's investigation comes as a growing number in Congress question the wisdom of a White House decision to appoint Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, the director of the National Cancer Institute, as acting FDA commissioner.

US Senators Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, this week wrote to the administration seeking an FDA commissioner who is devoted entirely to the agency.

''Every American family depends on the FDA to safeguard the food we eat and the medicines we take. Every cancer patient looks with hope to the National Cancer Institute to develop new treatments," Kennedy said yesterday. ''Leading either of these agencies is an awesome responsibility that demands total commitment. No single person, no matter how able or dedicated, can do both of these vital full time jobs on a part-time basis."

Others say the unusual job-share creates a conflict of interest. The cancer institute helps conduct clinical trials for experimental drugs that the FDA is later asked to approve for sale.

''I think it's an obvious conflict, not potential," said Ira Loss, a healthcare analyst with Washington Analysis.

Diedtra Henderson can be reached at dhenderson@globe.com.