Contents

1. Summary 
2. Victory! Legislation Improving FDA Drug Approval Process Becomes Law
3. Making Consumer Products Safer
4. UCS Activists Get Presidential
5. Protecting Science in the Endangered Species Act
6. EPA Libraries Receive a Repreive
7. Strengthening Agency Accountability
8. Science, Evolution, and Intelligent Design Guide Released
9. Additional Activity

Summary

This fall, Union of Concerned Scientists activists succeeded in pressuring Congress to pass major legislation that will help protect the American public from unsafe prescription drugs by significantly improving the drug review process at the Food and Drug Administration. With the recent headlines about contaminated toys, UCS policy experts  worked to improve scientific integrity at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Several imperiled species are getting another chance after UCS exposed a political appointee who was distorting scientific documents, and thanks in part to thousands of calls from UCS supporters, the EPA libraries have been given new life as well. And UCS activists continue to ask the presidential candidates what they will do to defend science from political interference. And don’t forget—it's not too late to order your 2008 scientific integrity cartoon calendar!

Victory! Legislation Improving FDA Drug Approval Process Becomes Law

The president has signed the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act, which will help ensure that drug approval decisions are made based on the best available science.

Under the old system, FDA managers could suppress or distort FDA scientists' research, and experts who evaluate a new drug were allowed to have significant financial ties to the companies that make it. These problems have led the agency to approve drugs—like Vioxx—that later are found to have dangerous side effects.

The new law requires the agency to publicize the scientific basis for its decisions, as well as whether there was any dissent and from whom. While the new law doesn't go far enough in restricting the number of people who serve on FDA advisory panels who have conflicts of interest, it will reduce that number over time.

Throughout the long legislative process, UCS activists kept the pressure on Congress. Activist phone calls and emails helped UCS demonstrate public support for reform. UCS will monitor the way the FDA implements the new legislation.

The law sets a precedent for increased public scrutiny of science-based decision making at other federal agencies. UCS is currently working to create transparency at the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Making Consumer Products Safer

Two important bills that address the independence of federal government science are moving through Congress with UCS support and guidance.

Recent toy safety scandals have made it clear that scientific integrity at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is essential for the health and safety of U.S. families. With UCS guidance and support, a bill that extends whistleblower protections to CPSC scientists was passed unanimously by the Senate Commerce Committee on October 30. UCS is pushing hard for full Senate passage of a strong consumer product safety bill that protects CPSC scientists who blow the whistle when their safety data that is suppressed or distorted. 

The House-passed consumer product safety bill does not include whistleblower protections, so these protections must be retained in the Senate bill if we are to have any hope of getting this reform into final consumer product safety legislation. We'll be looking to our activists in this effort to help make products safer. 

UCS Activists Get Presidential

The Bush administration has changed the way federal agencies carry out their scientific missions. The damage that has been done to federal agency science and scientists will need to be repaired by the next president, whether Republican or Democrat.

As the 2008 presidential election kicks into higher gear, UCS supporters are educating all the candidates about this issue. Part of our strategy to educate the presidential candidates and to get them to commit, on the record, to restoring scientific integrity to federal policy making is to ask them hard-hitting questions. UCS activists have attended debates, spoken with candidates and campaign officials, and written letters to the editors of newspapers.

As the candidates crisscross the country, we encourage all activists to make their views heard—and demand answers. Check out our list of suggested candidate questions on scientific integrity for inspiration.

Protecting Science in the Endangered Species Act

Numerous investigations have found that Interior Department political appointee Julie MacDonald pressured scientists to alter their findings on endangered species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reversed seven rulings that prevented the protection of endangered species.

UCS, together with several conservation organizations, has worked closely with the media and Congress to bring MacDonald's transgressions to light and to hold her accountable for her actions. UCS Senior Scientist Dr. Francesca Grifo testified before Congress in May regarding the problem of political interference in science at the FWS.

Unfortunately, MacDonald's intimidation of scientists is only a symptom of a disease that has afflicted the Interior Department. A UCS survey of scientists at the FWS found that political interference in science at the agency has become pervasive.

On November 30, Interior's inspector general opened a new investigation into improper political influence in decisions affecting 18 species in addition to those where inappropriate meddling has been acknowledged. UCS has proof of at least 30 cases in which officials have manipulated or suppressed science at the Fish and Wildlife Service. Read about several of these cases in the A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science.

EPA Libraries Receive a Repreive

In late 2006, UCS sounded the alarm that the Environmental Protection Agency had begun hastily closing its network of scientific libraries, effectively preventing EPA scientists and the public from accessing vast amounts of data and information on issues from hazardous waste to air pollution. In the process, documents were destroyed and library equipment was sold off.

In order to fulfill its mission to protect human health and the environment, the EPA must rely on accurate, up-to-date scientific information as well as the findings of earlier studies. To make the best scientific determinations, scientists need access to information regarding the health effects of toxic substances, records of environmental change over time, impacts on specific regions or communities and other issues.

Over the course of several weeks, more than 8,000 UCS activists directed a steady stream of phone calls to EPA headquarters to demand that the agency immediately stop its plans to close more libraries. The calls earned UCS an invitation to meet with EPA officials to discuss the status and future of the EPA libraries system.

UCS joined the American Library Association, several scientific societies, and leaders in Congress to call for the EPA to reopen its library system and create a clear and transparent plan to make information available electronically. Shortly thereafter, the EPA temporarily suspended its closure plans until a better solution could be found.

In response, Congress has allocated $3 million in the EPA’s 2008 budget to reopen the libraries that were closed. The EPA must report its progress to Congress within three months.

A General Accountability Office investigation into the library closures is due out by March.

Strengthening Agency Accountability

The Improving Government Accountability Act will strengthen the independence and role of inspectors general (IGs) at federal government agencies. IGs are charged with investigating waste, fraud, and corruption, which can include the misuse of science.

The legislation mandates that IGs create a place on their websites where anyone can anonymously and safely report interferences, abuses, or waste. This provision may provide a way for government scientists to challenge scientific misconduct through safe and confidential disclosure channels. The legislation, which overwhelmingly passed the House, has strong bipartisan support in the Senate. 

Science, Evolution, and Intelligent Design Materials Released

The growing strength of the movement to discredit evolution and promote the teaching of intelligent design and other non science-based views of biological diversity in public science classrooms is of great concern. In response, UCS has created a set of materials intended to provide a primer on the scientific theory, evolution, and intelligent design, along with discussions of why intelligent design is not science, why it should not be part of science curricula, and the broader implications anti-evolution efforts can have on society.

Promoting a fundamental understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry is an important and effective way to prevent the misuse of science in the classroom and in all sectors of society. We encourage you to explore the materials in the Science, Evolution, and Intelligent Design Guide and to share it with educators and others who would find it useful.

Additional Activity
In the past few months, UCS has used a number of different venues to continue our work to expose, document, and draw attention to political interference in science, including:

• The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science, a web resource in the shape of the periodic table that details dozens of recent allegations of political interference in federal science from 2001 to the present. The examples are presented in several accessible ways with primary source documentation. Featured among the new entries are attempts to politicize the water management policies in the Klamath River basin, compromise the integrity of an environmental impact statement on mountaintop removal mining, and downplay the dangers of toxic formaldehyde leaks in FEMA trailers.
• In September, the 2007 winner of Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon contest, Jesse Springer took a trip to Washington, DC to meet Washington Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles. He also met with his member of Congress, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), a scientific integrity supporter whose wife has been a member of UCS for over 20 years. Jesse's winning cartoon "Truth" graces the cover of the new 2008 Scientific Integrity calendar, available for purchase online and at select bookstores across the country.