Via Instapundit, I learn that Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen has been appointed (under the Bush Administration’s watch) to a four-year term on the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee, as the “consumer” representative. It’s hard to imagine a worse choice.
Wolfe and Public Citizen have the unique distinction of being primary instigators of (at least–these are the ones I’m familiar with) two of the worst junk science episodes in American legal history, the Bendectin and silicone breast implant litigation.
Here are some choice excerpts regarding Wolfe from my article on the breast implant litigation:
On November 9 [1988], Public Citizen publicly called on the FDA to ban implants. Public Citizen released internal documents from Dow Corning and the FDA that showed the company’s scientists had implanted a blob of the gel under the skin of 200 rats. Between one-fifth and one-quarter of the rats developed fibrosarcoma, a form of cancer. Public Citizen’s president, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, told the media that implants were dangerous and should be banned. Wolfe’s comments