75
other committee at that time outside of an Ob-Gyn committee in
the bureau.
My opening statement was that we have been wrestling with the
problem of the data, or so-called data, and this was being presented
to this committee to make a definitive judgment on it. No attempt
to bury.
How that statement came, I don't know. I categorically deny
approaching any drug with the idea of burying. I have been with
the Food and Drug Administration for 17 years. I just last night
reviewed my job description again.
There is nothing in there that calls for me to bury a drug. It
calls for me to foster and promote and assist in the development of
drugs in this country.
Thank you.
Dr. JACOB. Did Dr. Crout receive a letter from Dr. William Cre-
pane stating that Dr. Gyarfas made this statement, and does Dr.
Crout trust Dr. Crepane's veracity? Dr. William Crepane, chief of
surgery at the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center over-
heard Dr. Gyarfas make that statement, wrote to Dr. Crout, re-
ceived an answer from Dr. Crout. I would like to know whether Dr.
Crout trusts Dr. Crepane's veracity.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you care to make any comment, Dr. Crout?
Dr. CROUT. I am in a position of trusting both men. I don't know
how as an administrator one deals with two people who have a
conflict. I don't want to see this escalate into anything other than a
very unimportant segment of the whole DMSO story.
I can guarantee you that there isn't any such thing as one-person
review or one-person approval in the Food and Drug Administra-
tion. I can guarantee to you that I never heard Dr. Gyarfas make
such a statement, or anyone else in the Food and Drug Administra-
tion make such a statement.
I can guarantee you, as Dr. Gyarfas has, that that is not our
policy and won't happen.
The CHAIRMAN. Well, you know, of course, in the courts if a
judge has had any association with a case or has already formed an
opinion with it, he can excuse himself from it.
But I am pleased to hear Dr. Gyarfas here today say he would, in
any presentation in the future of this matter, be fair and objective
and try to make an honest decision in the public interest. Is that
correct, Dr. Gyarfas?
Dr. GYARFAS. Yes, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. Good. And doctor, you will certainly see to it,
since the question has already been raised in this case, as far as
you are able to see to it that it is done, that nobody except fair
judges will be sitting on this case.
Ms. OAKAR. Mr. Chairman, I just have one quick question.
Dr. Crout, we have heard testimony this morning to suggest that
FDA actually in its regulations-I am not talking about the law,
but your perception of what the law should say-actually makes it
very, very difficult to do the kinds of trials or experiments that you
demand.
We heard Dr. Scherbel, for example, talk about the various types
of physicals a patient has to get. Who is supposed to pay for this?
What if the person is poor, as many elderly are, for example who
