FDA advisory panel chair pulls out of conference amid ethics flap

By Toni Clarke

WASHINGTON | Thu Oct 24, 2013 8:08pm EDT

(Reuters) - The chairwoman of an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said she will withdraw from a drug industry conference after the consumer rights group Public Citizen leveled conflict-of-interest allegations against her.
Dr. Lynn Drake, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and current chairwoman of the panel that advises the FDA on drugs to treat skin and eye conditions, was scheduled to speak in February at a conference whose aim, according to its brochure, is to help companies "walk away with strategies to successfully present before a committee and avoid potential roadblocks."

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