Chuck Grassley: “I rise to follow Senator Baucus on exactly the same subject. I thank him for the period of time now, this year, he has…”

“I rise to follow Senator Baucus on exactly the same subject. I thank him for the period of time now, this year, he has been chairman of the committee, succeeding my chairmanship, because he has been very cooperative in my efforts to finish investigations that carried over with the change of Congress from Republican to Democratic, and also for helping us initiate new, needed investigations. But I also wish to take some time to comment exactly on what he had made reference to in the very report he has now submitted for the Record. Since he has submitted a copy, I will not ask permission to do that. It was about 3 years ago--in fact, the exact date was November 18, 2004--I convened a hearing on the worldwide withdrawal of Vioxx, a blockbuster pain medication. That hearing turned a spotlight on systemic problems at the Food and Drug Administration. We found that the Food and Drug Administration maintained a very cozy relationship with the drug industry and suppressed scientific dissent regarding agency actions on drug safety.”