Top FDA staff say left out of contraceptive ruling

By Lisa Richwine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former U.S. Food and Drug Administration chief shut out two senior agency officials from a decision to indefinitely postpone action on Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s "morning-after" contraceptive, the officials said in legal depositions released this week.

Transcripts of the sworn statements were released by the non-profit Center for Reproductive Rights, which sued the FDA, claiming that the agency allowed political opposition to the Plan B contraceptive to interfere with science.

Dr. Steven Galson, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, testified that around January 2005 he was leaning toward approving Barr's plan to sell Plan B over the counter.