Former FDA Chief Joins Lobby Shop

Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Lester M. Crawford, whose sudden resignation last fall after less than three months in office remains a mystery, has joined a lobbying firm that specializes in food and drug issues.

Crawford is listed as "senior counsel" to the firm Policy Directions Inc. Among the companies and organizations listed as clients are Altria Group Inc. (formerly Philip Morris Companies), Merck & Co. Inc., the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA,) the Grocery Manufacturers of America and the American Feed Industry Association. A spokesman for the firm said neither Crawford nor anyone else wished to discuss his appointment.

When he resigned in September, Crawford said simply that it was time for someone else to lead the agency. Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) have asked the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general to look into whether Crawford resigned because of an undisclosed financial conflict of interest.

Laura Bradbard, spokeswoman for the office, said yesterday that the investigation is ongoing and that her office has subpoenaed information from three financial firms used by the former commissioner.

Crawford is barred from lobbying former colleagues at the FDA for a year, but he can give clients strategic advice about food and drug issues and can lobby members of Congress.

Policy Directions was founded by Frankie L. Trull, a prominent defender of animal testing for medical research and critic of animal rights groups. On its Web site, the company says Crawford joined last month but gives no indication what his role will be.