An otherwise productive OAM [ad hoc] advisory
board meeting on 7/14 and 7/15 [1993] was marred by several ugly confrontations.
For example, when OAM advisor Richard Bloch [co-founder of H&R Block]
complained that he saw little progress, Director Joe Jacobs punctuated his
answer by banging on the table.
On the following day, in a discussion of whether or not advisors could publicize
their affiliations with the office--Jacobs said no--he told a dissenting
Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D., "you can call yourself any goddamn thing you
want." Moss told Jacobs not to yell and certainly not to curse at
him. He then went on to ascribe many of the problems of the office to
Jacobs's unpredictable personality. Jacobs quickly apologized.
In the afternoon, Dr. Michael Friedman [who is now acting commissioner of the
Food and Drug Administration, ed.] and Ms. Mary McCabe of NCI were closely
questioned by Frank Wiewel, Berkley Bedell, and others about what happened
to the $1 million in OAM money that was given to NCI to investigate antineoplastons
and other unconventional therapies. Wiewel and other advisors expressed
great dissatisfaction with NCI's answers and felt that that only Sen.
Harkin would be able to get a full accounting of NCI's conduct in this
matter. Harkin has spoken of holding hearings on this issue in the fall.
