When the FDA made its big “transparency” initiative public a few weeks back, I heard rumblings from some device and drug manufacturers who suggested this might be more about public relations than a real attempt to examine and revitalize the agency.

The jury is still out on this, but I have to say I’m impressed with the early part of the program. Last week the FDA held an open meeting to promote the initiative. You can view the webcast and see the agenda here.

I think the tone and content of the meeting are a good omen for this initiative.

But there was an amazing comment posted last week from a man who says he is a current FDAer who argues the agency needs to work even more on internal transparency.

“There is a lot of activities and decisions that my coworkers and management should share [especially in the IT arena], but they do not. There is perceived value in keeping things secret, as people think it enhances their position or value.”

He says that until the FDA learns how to be a bit more internally transparent, it ain’t gonna happen on the outside. “There must be an effort to change the culture within FDA to make all of us more willing to share information with our colleagues. After that change occurs, only then will we be more willing to share information with the public.”

Note: The commenter lists himself as “Samuel O’Sullivan.” We did a quick search of the FDA website and didn’t come up with an employee matching that name. We’ve got a call out to FDA and will keep you posted.

Update: According to FDA contacts, there is no Samuel O’Sullivan listed in the FDA employee directory. Our assumption is this person is using a pseudonym.