Scandals

• Whistleblowers, like Dr. Nicholas, a gastroenterologist at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, Calif. who was a consultant for the FDA from 2006 to 2009, testified in the March 2010 FDA hearings that he was harassed and pressured to change his objection to a medical imaging device previously approved by the FDA. When he refused, his contract was not renewed. Other reports accused the FDA of retaliating against those who made unfavorable disclosures.
  
  

Politics

• Insiders argue that the FDA's credibility declined under the Bush administration's antiregulatory, pro-business administration. According to Diana Zuckerman, Ph.D., president of the nonpartisan National Research Center for Women and Families, the FDA's politically appointed administrators during the Bush years prevented embarrassing and negative disclosures.
  
  

Conflict of Interest

• Conflict of interest within the FDA arose when the FDA started charging fees to pharmaceutical companies (in 1992) and medical device manufacturers (in 2002) in order to subsidize costs. This financial dependency has made the FDA susceptible to pressure from the companies they regulate.