Consumer advocates are putting down their Ralph Nader Readers to celebrate the recent appointment of David Vladeck as Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP). As a Scholar for the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) and Director of Public Citizen Litigation Group, Vladeck has been lauded as one of best public interest litigators in the country, winning 4 out of 5 cases argued before the US Supreme Court. Among other victories, he represented former FDA Commissioners, Dr. Donald Kennedy and Dr. David A. Kessler in Wyeth v. Levine, in which the Supreme Court held that victims may bring state lawsuits against drug manufacturers for inadequate warnings, even when a drug’s labeling has been FDA approved.
Vladeck has been known to attack federal agency directors as “largely unaccountable senior political appointees, many of whom will simply return via the revolving door to the industry that they have overseen during their brief tenure in government.” About to become an agency insider himself, it will be interesting to see what if any changes he brings to BCP. Vladeck may use his authority to focus enforcement efforts on advertising practices of drugs, dietary supplements and other health-related products. Vladeck has consistently dedicated his practice to health issues, spending 15 years working to force OSHA to regulate toxic substances in the workplace and serving as Director of Georgetown’s Center on Health Regulation and Governance at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.
Vladeck’s recent public comments since his appointment are also telling. In his May 17th Commencement address to Georgetown Law graduates, he disclosed that he accepted the new position with the FTC because he believes consumer fraud is “out of control” and that he intends to fight against those who prey upon the public with “snake oil supplements that promise a cure and deliver nothing.”
In addition, although the FTC and FDA have sometimes been at odds over issues such as the use of disclaimers or the use of qualified claims, Vladeck's appointment, along with that of acting Commissioner and soon to be Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, who has also worked at Public Citizen, may lead to greater consensus between the two agencies (a longstanding MOU between the FDA and FTC grants the FTC primary jurisdiction for the oversight of the advertising of over-the-counter drugs, food, cosmetics, and devices, while FDA has primary jurisidction over the labeling of these products). A focus on health-related products would also represent a shift away from, or an addition to, priorities announced in March by Acting BCP Director Eileen Harrington, that included an increased focus on regulating financial institutions, fair credit reporting and on-line data collection.
We hope to find out more about Vladeck’s priorities and potential collaboration between the FDA and FTC when he presents the opening remarks at the 2009 ABA Antitrust Section’s Consumer Protection Conference on June 18. To read more, Vladeck’s blogs and White Papers are available online from the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR).
