Surprise vacancy at FDA worries US senators
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The abrupt resignation of U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Lester Crawford last week—and the news that the man appointed to replace him temporarily plans to also keep his job as head of the National Cancer Institute—has lawmakers who were already unhappy with the agency alarmed.
Crawford, who was confirmed by the Senate only two months ago after a bruising, 5-month process, resigned Friday. In an e-mail to FDA staff, Crawford cited only his age—67—as his reason, although speculation suggests the actual reason is more likely some type of professional misconduct.
President Bush late Friday afternoon tapped as acting FDA commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, an old friend from Houston who formerly headed the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. In interviews over the weekend, von Eschenbach told reporters he planned to do both the FDA job and keep his job as head of the NCI, at least on a temporary basis.
But that is not going over well on Capitol Hill, where the FDA has come under fire for a series of missteps, including its handling of the application to allow emergency contraception to be sold without prescription; the removal from the market of the popular painkiller Vioxx; and the findings that anti-depressants could produce suicidal tendencies in children and teenagers.
“That ain’t going to work,” said Sen. Christopher Dodd, Connecticut Democrat, of von Eschenbach’s plan. “I don’t care who the guy is—he could be Jonas Salk, he’s not going to do both jobs,” said Dodd, who is the sponsor of one of many bills to overhaul the agency’s structure.
Sen. Charles Grassley, Iowa Republican and Dodd’s cosponsor on the FDA bill, fired off a letter Monday to Andrew Card, President Bush’s chief of staff.
“I expect that whoever is named Commissioner—either acting or confirmed—will know that it’s not possible to give the FDA the kind of strong new leadership that is needed to reinvigorate the agency on a part-time basis,” Grassley wrote.
Other lawmakers suggested that there is a problem even more serious than just von Eschenbach’s splitting his time—a potential conflict of interest. Because the FDA regulates many activities of the cancer institute, it would be inappropriate, they say, for one person to head both agencies simultaneously.
“On its face it looks like a conflict,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, who said he is looking at whether anyone has ever tried to hold two such opposite jobs, even temporarily. “Given the problems at the agency, that’s not a prescription in my view for turning things around,” he said.
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