Lobby groups call for closure of "revolving door" between drug regulators and industry

The European Commission has been urged to review procedures at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the staff regulations that govern the conduct of EU officials, after claims that a former executive director of EMA arranged to become a consultant to the drug industry while still employed by the agency. Thomas Lonngren, who ran Europe’s drug regulatory agency for 10 years before stepping down at the end of 2010, has already been told by the EMA that he should not provide product related advice to drug companies nor take managerial, executive, or consultative positions in the industry for a period of two years. But …