Leavitt avoids charges of contempt of Congress

WASHINGTON Department of Health and Human Services secretary Michael Leavitt is working with the House Energy and Commerce Committee in order to avoid being charged with contempt.

In January, the committee requested a briefing book and related notes used to help Food and Drug Administration commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach prepare for a 2007 hearing on whether Sanofi-Aventis’ Ketek (telithromycin) was approved by the FDA based on fraudulent data. Leavitt refused to provide the material at the time.

Once the committee sent him a letter threatening a contempt charge, the HHS secretary responded with an offer to allow them to view certain documents, but only at HHS facilities. The committee then voiced the concern that it would need to also copy some of the documents.

Currently, Leavitt and the committee are working toward a mutually agreeable solution, but a spokeswoman for the committee has said that a contempt charge is unlike at this point, according to FDA reports.