Istook Backed Diet Pills Before Fda Ban
August 29, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoman is reporting that Congressman Ernest Istook pushed to keep ephedra-based diet pills on the market at the same time that his former chief of staff was a registered lobbyist for companies that made the pills.
The gubernatorial candidate wrote letters to the secretary of Health and Human Services and a House subcommittee chairman seeking to keep the diet pills on the market. The Food and Drug Administration banned them two years ago amid concerns about consumer safety.
Istook tells The Oklahoman's Washington bureau that he never publicized his efforts and said they weren't "a major initiative." He attributed his interest in dietary supplements to consumers' rights and constituents' concerns.
But when Istook wrote the letters regarding ephedra-based diet pills in 1999 and 2003, his former chief of staff -- Brian Lopina -- was a registered lobbyist for companies that made the pills.
Source: http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=5331290
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