Mr. Outside moves inside
Daniel Troy fought the FDA for years; now he's helping to run it
That credo guided Troy's early legal tangles with the FDA. He represented the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. in its effort to fend off the FDA in the 1990s. He also fought the FDA in court to let drug makers promote to doctors "off label," or unapproved, uses of their drugs. In both instances, Troy argued that the FDA's approach violated the First Amendment. The Supreme Court, which took up only the tobacco case, eventually agreed.
But last year, in a twist, Troy found himself in the unusual position of defending the FDA's right to restrict advertising by pharmacies in a First Amendment case that reached the Supreme Court. This time, he lost. But in a sense, given his long history of fighting the FDA on such issues, he had won.
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