President Bush made it official yesterday, nominating Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach to become the permanent replacement for former FDA chief Dr. Lester Crawford, barring any confirmation problems in the Senate.
One of the chief concerns I’ve had about von Eschenbach — running the FDA and the National Cancer Institute at the same time for the past six months — will go away, as he will give up his leadership role at the institute.
Will von Eschenbach provide any leadership to reform the FDA, plagued with conflicts of interest and greed? Any leader is better than none, says Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), one of the more outspoken leaders for FDA reform.
Considering all the health-harming decisions made daily by the FDA in the service of big business, however, I’m not holding my breath anything will change.