FDA “outside activity”
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The agency "is taking several additional steps to protect against potential conflicts of interest" among employees that will go in to effect as soon as possible, FDA announces June 4. The measures include conducting an annual review of outside activities, expanding the number of FDA employees required to file declarations of their financial holdings and release of an agency-wide "Staff Manual Guide" on outside activities. FDA also announced the results of a review on all outside activities performed by agency employees, which Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford said did not identify any other activities of concern. The review covered more than 1,800 HHS form 520s entitled "request for approval of outside activity" for both paid and unpaid work by FDA employees. FDA announced revisions to its procedure for reviewing outside activities of agency employees on May 18, the same day a House Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee hearing addressed the ethics of outside consulting arrangements by NIH employees...