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Publication

Limitless Surveillance at the FDA: Protecting the Rights of Federal Whistleblowers

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
; 
Senate Committee on Judiciary
Abstract
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and The Senate Committee on the Judiciary examined the monitoring program initiated by the FDA to investigate disclosures made by scientists. This came after multiple scientists at the FDA lodged complaints that agency was approving unsafe and risky medical devices. Some of the scientists later filed a suit alleging that information gathered during the monitoring was used to harass or dismiss at least six current and former FDA employees. The committee conducted even transcribed interviews with current and former FDA employees and contractors and reviewed approximately 70,000 documents. The Committee found that the FDA conducted this monitoring program without regard for employees' rights to communicate with Congress, the OSC, or their personal attorneys. The committee recommend that agencies need clearer policies addressing appropriate monitoring practices to ensure that agency officials do not order or conduct surveillance beyond their legal authority or retaliate against whistleblowers.
Date
2014-02-26
Document Type
Senate Minority Staff Report
House Majority Staff Report
Serial Number
Document Length
152 pages
Congress
113
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Files
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2014-02-26_R-Limitless_Surveillance_at_the_FDA-113C.pdf
Adobe PDF, 8.3 MB
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14300/260
Relation
DOI
Keywords
Staff Reports
PAP Major Code
20: Government Operations
PAP Minor Code
2004: Civil Service Issues
Related Hearings
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "Limitless Surveillance at the FDA: Protecting the Rights of Federal Whistleblowers," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-88, (2014, February 26)
Press Releases and Contextual Information
https://web.archive.org/web/20230628200612/https://oversight.house.gov/release/issa-grassley-report-fda-employee-monitoring-finds-agency-still-lacks-adequate-whistleblower-protections/
https://web.archive.org/web/20230628200748/https://oversight.house.gov/report/14216/
Collections
House Oversight Committee