Republicans say FDA spying may have broken whistleblower law

By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Food and Drug Administration exceeded its authority when it set up a surveillance program to monitor employees in its medical device division who it suspected of leaking trade secrets, two prominent Republican lawmakers said on Wednesday. The charge was made in a report released by Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the House oversight panel, and Senator Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The report found that the FDA may have broken laws protecting whistleblowers and that interim policies put in place by the agency last year to safeguard them were insufficient. FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson said in a statement that the agency had not been given an opportunity to review the full report but said "many of the findings outlined paint an incomplete picture of the matter." In April 2010, the FDA engaged contractors to check on first one scientist and then four more using a software monitoring program called Spector 360, the report said.