Healthy Skepticism Library item: 6988

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Publication type: news

Wilde Mathews.
Senate Confirms New FDA Chief
Wall Street Journal 2006 Dec 8

Abstract:

WASHINGTON — Andrew von Eschenbach was confirmed as head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, giving the agency greater stability at its top as it heads into a difficult year of scrutiny and likely legislative changes on Capitol Hill.
Dr. von Eschenbach, a 65-year-old oncologist and surgeon as well as the former director of the National Cancer Institute, has been the acting head of the FDA since September 2005. Dr. von Eschenbach’s nomination faced a series of holdups from senators raising concerns about hot-button issues including emergency contraception, drug importation and a continuing investigation of the antibiotic Ketek. Last night, however, the Senate appeared to put those issues behind it and approved his nomination on an 80-11 vote.
In his public speeches, Dr. von Eschenbach, a cancer survivor, has emphasized the importance of emerging new technologies in health care, and in the past he has spoken about wanting to examine whether the drug-review process needs changes to “streamline and accelerate” the approval of promising new therapies. At the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, he was identified with a high-profile goal of eliminating suffering and death caused by cancer by 2015.
In a statement, Dr. von Eschenbach said that he was “humbled by the responsibility with which I have been entrusted” and “committed to leading this agency in a manner that continues to earn” Americans’ trust and respect.
Dr. von Eschenbach will face tough challenges over the next year, as the new Democratic-controlled Congress is expected to perform aggressive oversight of many aspects of the FDA, with focuses on drug safety and issues surrounding generic medicines. The legislation that authorizes the industry user fees that fund much of the work of the agency’s drug and device centers must be renewed in 2007. Those bills could become vehicles for a variety of broad-based changes to the agency.
At the same time, the new commissioner will probably press for increased federal funding that agency staffers and industry officials have said is vital — particularly if the FDA is asked to take on significant new regulatory responsibilities. That will be a tough sell amid budget pressures sparked by the Iraq war and other costly government commitments.