In what might be one of the most surprising departures from the Trump administration yet , Scott Gottlieb has tenderize his surrender as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration , effective next calendar month . The precipitous conclusion , initiallyreportedby the Washington Post on Tuesday , comes in the middle of several public health go-ahead pushed by Gottlieb ’s FDA , most prominently its crusade against teen vaping .
agree to the Washington Post ’s source , the 46 - twelvemonth - old Gottlieb decide to resign to spend more meter with his wife and three daughter , who lodge in in Connecticut . He is said to have sent his surrender alphabetic character to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar , whose federal agency oversees the FDA . He also spoke with President Trump about his decision , who reportedly expressed regret about his passing .
In astatementshared from the FDA Twitter account , Gottlieb pronounce , “ There ’s perhaps nothing that could pull me away from this role other than the challenge of being asunder from my family for these preceding two geezerhood and miss my wife and three unseasoned small fry . ”
Gottlieb ’s sudden exit is particularly notable because he had been one of the least controversial — and one of the most competent — appointments made by the Trump White House .
Prior to step into the situation in May 2017 , criticspointedto the physician ’s long history with the pharmaceutical industry as a unfit gene . Some also worried that Gottlieb would systematically counteract the regulatory world power of the delegacy , standardized to how other Trump appointees have gutted regulations at the EPA and elsewhere . But Gottlieb ’s FDA life history , while certainly not perfect , has largely avoided any political overtone or major catastrophe .
Under his land tenure , the agency pursued efforts to drive down drug prices by further the development of more generic drug and shaming drug companies that attempted to block generics ( he , like others in the Trump White House , resistedmore aggressive measure , however ) . Gottlieb also systematically preach forevidence - base approachesto public wellness issues , include the opioid crisis . In particular , he stressed the need for majuscule memory access to medication - assisted discourse for hoi polloi living with opioid utilization upset , andexpandedthe agency ’s ability to consider fresh treatments for blessing . Notably , Gottlieb was never accused oflying about his research , queer the publicfor expensive flights , ortrashing people ’s homes , unlike sure other Trump appointees .
That said , Gottlieb ’s FDA has take in its fair percentage of criticism . Some doctors havearguedthat the agency has done little to effectively regulate the supplement industry , a longstanding complaint ( though in February , the FDA didannounceit would importantly overhaul its supervising of addendum ) . Gottlieb alsotook firefor his agency ’s decision to approve Dsuvia , the tab signifier of an opioid painkiller more stiff than fentanyl . He was also criticise for pushing back the timetable for when young regulatory rules would apply to e - butt products , similar to how tobacco cigarettes are regulated . Initially , the cognitive operation would have set about in 2018 , but Gottlieb detain it until 2022 — a determination thatprompteda lawsuit against the agency by several major public wellness group , including the American Heart Association .
Gottlieb and the FDA eventually took afar harsherstance on vaping , supposedly because of raw data showing that teenager were using novel east - cigaret products like Juul pods at alarmingly higher rate than before . Just this retiring weekend , Gottlieb reportedly lead to the White House topushfor a insurance policy that would effectively ban the sale of flavor e - cigaret products in non - speciality computer memory , along with other measures to forbid teen purpose . Gottlieb has also called teen vaping one of the agency ’s greatest public wellness challenge .
What will become of the anti - vaping opening move and others win by Gottlieb is something that ’s now up in the air , though . And perhaps equally worrying is the question of who on the nose will replace the actually decent Gottlieb .
ScienceTrump
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and culture news show in your inbox day by day .
News from the hereafter , bear to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
