Investigation Sought of Extensive F.D.A. Surveillance on Scientists Who Warned of Radiation Exposure from Medical Devices

"...The New York Times disclosed in an article on Sunday that the agency’s surveillance of five of its own scientists beginning in 2010 had produced 80,000 pages of intercepted e-mails and other documents, along with what amounted to an enemies list of 21 “actors” at the agency, in Congress, the news media and academia who were thought to be collaborating to put out confidential information damaging to the reputation of the F.D.A.’s medical device reviews.

...The F.D.A. scientists maintained that a number of medical imaging devices used to detect colon and breast cancer used unsafe levels of radiation. The special counsel’s office, which rejects the vast majority of the public safety claims that federal employees make, found that the concerns were valid enough to warrant a full investigation, and it sent the matter to Ms. Sebelius to conduct the review. She is scheduled to report back by the end of July, although the deadline may be extended.

...In a confidential memo in May, the Office of Special Counsel, which handles federal workplace grievances, found a “significant likelihood” that the devices posed “a substantial and specific danger to public safety” as the scientists had warned." New York Times