Ex-FDA Head David Kessler Now a PR Flack for F-H

The Fleishman-Hillard PR firm has announced hiring former Food & Drug Administration head Dr. David A. Kessler. Under Kessler the FDA served the biotechnology industry by adopting an anti-consumer policy of not requiring safety testing or labeling of genetically engineered food. "He will offer enormous insight and value to our clients," announced the PR firm whose recent clients include Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Baxter Healthcare, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, DuPont, ExxonMobil, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co., Pharmacia, Procter & Gamble, Scripps Health, and Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Kessler becomes one of many politically connected, big name flacks working for F-H including Newt Gingrich, William S. Cohen, Mickey Kantor, General Barry R. McCaffrey and Leon Panetta. F-H would not reveal how much money Kessler would receive for his PR services.