WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford was a no-show at a deposition Friday as part of a suit to force drugstore sales of Plan B.
Crawford was scheduled to attend the deposition in federal court as part of a lawsuit intended to force sales without a prescription of Barr Laboratories' Plan B, an emergency contraceptive.
If Crawford, who is also under investigation on allegations of financial misconduct, is forced to testify, he will be advised to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination, the New York Times reported.
The lawsuit, which claims that the agency did not follow its own procedures when it denied Barr Laboratories' May 2004 application to sell the emergency contraceptive without a prescription, sought depositions from Crawford, Deputy Operations Commissioner Janet Woodcock and Steve Galson, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
The Food and Drug Administration said Barr's 2004 drug application was not approvable because the company did not have data about the effects of the medication on women younger than 16. The company then resubmitted its application in January 2005 to include only sales to women 17 and older, but the agency announced it would be delaying its decision.
Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, can reduce the likelihood of pregnancy after unprotected or unwanted intercourse for several days but is more effective the sooner it is taken.
The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals and other groups and will be heard in a New York U.S. District Court.
The attorneys said they plan to ask questions about internal communications indicating there may have been non-medical reasons for rejecting the application.
