FDA’s Peter Lurie on being out and being in
Peter Lurie
When Dr. Peter Lurie was working at Public Citizen, he was known as one of the FDA’s biggest public opponents. He participated in congressional hearings, he fought Big Pharma, he spoke out on behalf of people who needed medicines or who had been hurt by the wrong medicine. Now he’s working inside the FDA, and Rob Stein of the Washington Post decided to find out what it’s like for someone like Lurie on the inside. The upshot? Lurie has realized “the issues are more complex than people on the outside of government can fully appreciate.” These may seem like wiggle words, but they’re certainly true. Government officials have to look at more sides of an issue than issue advocates outside government, and they have to take into account more stakeholders — including, in the FDA’s case, the extremely influential pharmaceutical companies. But in a way, working inside a large government agency and working with so many people, you end up being less exposed — certainly less exposed to some people’s anger than he was at Public Citizen. (more…)
