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# Porter Wants OIG Probe of Company Influence on FDA
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/porter-wants-oig-probe-of-company-influence-on-fda/
- Published: 2021-07-07T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T17:05:24.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5149654

House government operations subcommittee vice chair **Katie Porter** (D-CA) says it is apparent from the controversial FDA 6/7 approval of Biogen’s Aduhelm (aducanumab) to slow the effects of Alzheimer’s disease that the drug industry continues to have an undue influence on FDA and HHS. In a 7/6 [letter](https://twitter.com/RepKatiePorter/status/1412534817749602314/photo/1?ref=fdaweb.com) to the HHS Inspector General, Porter requests an immediate investigation of “the role that pharmaceutical industry executives, consultants, and lobbyists have in the approval of products by the Department of Health and Human Services and, specifically, in FDA. While families and patients deserve to have access to urgently needed treatments, the violation of well-established rules regarding communications between scientists and manufacturers and the subsequent misuse of approval and contracting pipelines is unacceptable.”

Porter reviews many of the aspects of the Aduhelm evaluation and approval that have been reported in the media and disclosed by Biogen and FDA and says “it appears very clear that Biogen had an inside route to FDA officials and had undue influence over their decision making and the evidence presented in various settings.”

She calls for a review of all agency practices in meeting with drug companies and affiliated entities to establish new internal policies to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse of the systems. Porter says patients and their families deserve to know agency decisions are made by independent scientists and not by companies with clear financial motivations for pursuing approval of inadequate treatments.