The FDA should release the available PATH dataset now and allow PATH investigators to present their work so far

I was at a meeting last week of NIH and FDA scientists on tobacco regulatory science at which FDA officials repeatedly urged people to submit public comments in response to the scientific questions raised in the draft deeming rule.
 
The absolute best source of data for answering many of these questions is the FDA PATH study, a giant national study of tobacco use, including exposure to tobacco advertising.  While the data for Wave 1 is still being collected, the FDA already has a huge amount of information collected that could form the basis for providing scientific guidance to the rule making process.
 
The problem is that none of this data is scheduled to be released until next year, well after the comment period on the deeming rule is closed (even allowing for the fact that the Obama Administration will almost certainly once again ignore the health community and extend the comment period for the tobacco industry).  While under normal circumstances it would be reasonable to wait until  the entire sample was collected before releasing the public use data set, we are not experiencing normal situations.
 
It is obvious from reading the draft rule that the White House (through the OMB) seriously watered down the rule (no flavor ban, no ad ban to kids, long phase in, exempting some cigars, continued -- and larger -- consumer surplus discount of health benefits, completely ignoring the 2014 Surgeon General's report, etc,, etc., etc), which led to the many calls for scientific input on issues that the FDA itself should have addressed. 
 
I read every one of those requests for scientific information as a desperate call for help from the muzzled FDA to give it more information to fight the White House and restore at least a little public health prioity in the rule.
 
While it is frustrating that, once again, the Obama Administration is challenging the public health community to drop everything and once again do the work the Administration should have allowed the FDA to do, the least the OMB could do is to make the data it the FDA is holding available to us.
 
And while they are at it, they could release the scientists who do have access to the PATH data from restrictions on talking about and publishing what they are finding.