The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) called for the U.S. Department of Justice to rein in the Office of Consumer Litigation, which supervises cases involving alleged improper promotion by pharmaceutical firms and medical device manufacturers.
In a letter to deputy attorney general James Comey, the free-market think tank called on the Department of Justice to reassign oversight for cases involving drug promotion to its Criminal Division, which, the WLF said, “has far more expertise in addressing the sensitive issues inherent in any criminal investigation.”
The WLF said that the OCL has failed to set clear standards regarding what forms of promotional activities are prosecutable.
“To date, OCL has failed to provide clear guidance and coordination,” said the letter. “Indeed, OCL has left senior FDA officials largely in the dark regarding criminal investigations that it has approved.”