by the Way . . .

A report by the Government Accountability Office concluded that the FDA rejection of the application for the morning-after pill "plan B" to be sold over the counter was unusual in several respects. The FDA denied that it was unusual for top agency officials to be involved, or that it was unprecedented for them to ignore the recommendation of an independent advisory committee as well as that of their own scientific review staff. The agency noted that they were following practices honored for over 400 years, and cited this Blog's discussion of the Galileo proceedings. It is unprecedented for a federal agency to place such reliance on a newly established Blog, and quite an honor.

A spokeswoman for the FDA, also following established administration practice, immediately questioned the "integrity" of the investigative process that resulted in such "partial" conclusions. It is assumed she meant that the conclusions were "partial" because the role of the former head of the agency, Mark McClellan, could not be uncovered. The agency told the investigators that all of his email and written correspondence on the subject had been deleted or thrown out.