Senate approves FDA chief nomination

[cal04]

The Senate on Thursday confirmed cancer surgeon Andrew von Eschenbach to head the Food and Drug Administration, but only after breaking a filibuster in which he was accused of impeding congressional investigations.

The vote was 80-11.

Von Eschenbach, a former head of the National Cancer Institute, has been acting head of the FDA for more than year. He was approved in September by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Education Committee, but members of both parties had stalled a final vote on his nomination.

(snip)
Democrats blocked it until the FDA decided to allow nonprescription sales of the morning-after pill now on the market

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061207/ap_on_go_co/fda_commissioner_3

[napi21]

1. I read his bio this afternoon. s don't know anything about his politics,

but he sure seems like a very successful Dr, researcher, and administrator.