Crawford reportedly faces more legal turbulence

WASHINGTON — Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Lester M. Crawford, DVM, reportedly faces a criminal investigation by a federal grand jury over financial disclosure and sale of stock while in office.

The grand jury inquiry of Crawford was disclosed at another court hearing involving a lawsuit about FDA's actions regarding the emergency contraceptive Plan B, popularly dubbed the morning-after pill, according to the New York Times.

Crawford's lawyer Barbara Van Gelder told national media outlets that she would instruct him to take the Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination if ordered to answer questions about his financial disclosure in a federal court-ordered deposition aiming to make Barr Laboratories Plan B product available over-the-counter. The suit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights and will be heard in a New York District Court. Crawford did not show up to the deposition.

The latest round of media reports question Crawford's financial disclosure and holdings as FDA commissioner involving a sale of more than $50,000 in shares in a medical device maker a month before his resignation last September.

After leaving FDA, Crawford joined Washington lobbying firm Policy Directions Inc.