White House (Re)commits to Pushing Drug Importation

My newspaper column last week was on the Obama administration's hideous flip-flop on the issue of drug importation, and the column and the ongoing reporting here at OpenLeft prompted a very solid story at the top of CNN Tonight's Friday broadcast. Watch it here:

As I said, it's a solid piece that looks at whether the White House political staff manipulated the FDA and/or doctored an official FDA safety warning in order to protect pharmaceutical profits. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who made the allegation, has since stopped talking, likely under intense pressure from the White House and the drug industry. But we'll try to keep reporting out facts on this, as it's a huge story. Politicizing safety agencies a la Karl Rove is positively outrageous -- especially when it's all to protect a price cartel.

The good news is that the furor seems to have exacted a commitment out of the White House for future action: