Grassley repeats plea for permanent FDA commissioner
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
"The agency needs and deserves a full-time, permanent Commissioner with the authority to address the cultural, structural and scientific challenges that have plagued the agency," Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) states in a Feb. 3 letter to White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. Following Lester Crawford's abrupt departure in September and President Bush's selection of National Cancer Institute Director Andrew von Eschenbach as FDA acting commissioner, Grassley urged the President to select a permanent replacement (1"The Gray Sheet" Oct. 3, 2005, p. 3). In January, Crawford joined the lobbying firm Policy Directions as senior counsel. The firm counts the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, the Biotechnology Industry Organization and many pharmaceutical companies as clients. Baxter and Bausch & Lomb have also used its services...