FDA Commissioner Gottlieb, who raised alarms about teen vaping, resigns
OK, folks, this is bad. As some of my longtime friends here on DU know, I have a scientist friend of 25+ years, who I met as a pro-choice activist, who used to work at NIH, and now at the FDA. She was ready to dismiss him as pro-pharma Trump nominee, but he proved himself to all the scientists there as an advocate of science over market/politics.
She says:"This is very upsetting. I really liked Gottlieb. Whenever I met with him on high-level drug policy issues, he asked serious scientific questions and in the end, always supported my scientific conclusions. He was basically the ONLY person in the Trump Administration who actually (and strongly) believed in the mission of the agency he headed up. Conservatives hate him, even though he has solid GOP cred.
I'm very worried about who is going to replace him."
Gottlieb, who has been commuting weekly to Washington from his home in Connecticut, wants to spend more time with his family, the official said. The 46-year-old physician, millionaire venture capitalist and cancer survivor known for a self-assured, sometimes brash, manner lives in Westport, with his wife and three daughters – 9-year-old twins and a 5-year-old.
The resignation was not sought by the White House. A senior White House official said Gottlieb had spoken to President Trump, who liked the FDA chief and did not want him to leave. While Gottlieb had some policy disagreements with the White House, he is well respected, and could even be invited back to another post, two officials said.
..................................
The resignation comes as Gottlieb’s signature issue – youth vaping – is being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The plan, detailed by Gottlieb last fall, would sharply restrict the sale of flavored e-cigarettes to curb a surge in underage vaping, which he argues could lead to a whole new generation addicted to nicotine.
His initiative has won praise for shining a spotlight on a national problem. But it has also been criticized by some anti-tobacco activists as being too weak and by e-cigarette supporters as being too aggressive. Some libertarians and conservatives recently complained his approach represented “regulatory panic” and went against Trump’s anti-regulatory agenda.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/03/05/fda-commissioner-gottlieb-who-raised-alarms-about-teen-vaping-resigns/?fbclid=IwAR2ekGoUEFIXsa5dIpjnDf6-lqFYxQzrWeSoOT1dbOpKSgvbPdBVLrZpN1E&utm_term=.e7bc4570c34a