CMS chief denies Plan B communications

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Medicare chief Mark McClellan Thursday denied he talked to Bush administration officials about the Plan B contraceptive while he was at the FDA.

Testifying before a House committee on Medicare physician payment reform, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., veered off the issue and grilled McClellan about possible White House influence on the controversial decision by the Food and Drug Administration to deny approval of the so-called morning-after pill for sale without a prescription.

"Did you have any conversation with anyone from the White House about Plan B (while serving as FDA Commissioner?)," Waxman asked McClellan.

"I did not make any decision or recommendation on Plan B," the former FDA chief responded. McClellan added that he had no specific conversations with White House staff or officials at the Department of Health and Human Services about the emergency contraceptive on information that was not "publicly available." The subject "didn't come up very often," he said.

Committee members including Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., chided Waxman for straying from the topic of the hearing.