The missteps of President Obama’s two FDA appointees - Commissioner Margaret Hamburg and Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein – could not deviate any further from the President’s stated mission.
President Obama previously explained that "exposure to mercury leads to serious developmental problems in children. The EPA estimates that every year, more than one in six children could be at risk for developmental disorders."
Acknowledging that government coziness with industry could inhibit such goals, the president promised to halt the revolving door that permits officials to oscillate between regulatee and regulator. Curiously, FDA's new commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, slipped into office through that revolving door.
Hamburg continued to hold Henry Schein stock options after becoming commissioner. (Henry Schein Inc. is America’s no. 1 seller of mercury amalgam.) Consistent with Obama ethical requirements, she signed a contract limiting her participation in actions affecting Schein while she retained this financial interest.
Then came her first test: a rule to determine warnings for amalgam fillings, products that contain 50 percent mercury but are deceptively marketed to the public as "silver fillings."
Skirting the contract she signed, Hamburg worked on the amalgam rule, which now allows amalgam to be sold without disclosing to consumers that it contains mercury.
The FDA even pulled from its consumer Web site a warning that amalgam could cause neurological harm to children and fetuses, burying it on a Web page entitled "Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff" - a place no parent will look.