Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Regulatory policy articles this time: Recess Appointment Makes Dudley Head of White House Regulatory Policy Office Courts Rebuke Bush Administration's Forest Actions EPA Issues another Delay in Contaminant Regulation

Today, a House panel held a hearing examining the reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). PDUFA forces the drug industry to pay for safety studies of new drugs, but also allows the industry to dictate timelines for approval. Some members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee on Health expressed concern about the influence industry can exert through user fees. However, the general tenor of the hearing was that of assuming Congress would reauthorize PDUFA, and user fees would actually increase.

Last week, the National Institutes of Health officially ended its relationship with Sciences International, a private consulting firm. As OMB Watch has reported, SI had essentially been managing an NIH group studying reproductive health. The consultant's research and summaries of a particular chemical, bisphenol A, exhibited industry bias. Subsequently, SI became the focal point of a controversy over scientific contractors and conflicts of interest.

Ellen Smith, editor of Mine Safety and Health News, has an opinion piece in today's North County Gazette (NY). The issue is private OMB meetings that too often include special interests and shut out the American public. Smith argues these meetings result in biased decision-making placing Americans (in her example miners) at risk. More important is the loss of transparency in the decision-making process — a fundamental democratic right. Read the column here.