Wall Street Journal ~ FDA Official Retires Amid Inquiry

[Guest guest]

" Terry notified the commissioner of his retirement plans yesterday

afternoon, " an FDA spokeswoman said Tuesday. "

* U.S. NEWS

* NOVEMBER 24, 2010

FDA Official Retires Amid Inquiry

By _ALICIA MUNDY_

(http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=ALICIA+MUNDY & bylinesearch=true)

_http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730304575633050712742496.h

tml?mod=googlenews_wsj_

(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730304575633050712742496.html?\

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WASHINGTON—The Food and Drug Administration's top criminal investigator is

stepping down after a whistleblower made allegations about the alteration

of internal agency reports and other misconduct.

Terry Vermillion set up the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations in 1992

after retiring as a Secret Service agent. The office has been at the

center of the current probe into alleged doping by cyclist Lance Armstrong. The

anonymous whistleblower complaint, sent to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa),

doesn't involve the Armstrong case.

More

* _Letter From Sen. Grassley Outlining Allegations of Misconduct_

(http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/grassleyletter.pdf)

* _FDA Criminal Division to Increase Prosecutions (03/04/2010)_

(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703862704575099942109582112.html)

According to a September letter by Mr. Grassley, the whistleblower alleged

that Mr. Vermillion has been running his office from his home near Virginia

Beach and inappropriately hired a certain contractor against the advice of

other criminal-division officials.

The whistleblower also said Mr. Vermillion " directed that reports prepared

by OCI's Office of Internal Affairs be changed to sanitize them of

derogatory information about his fellow U.S. Secret Service retirees now

working at

FDA/OCI, " according to the Grassley letter.....

......Write to Mundy at _alicia.mundy@..._

(mailto:alicia.mundy@...)