Senate Vote Confirms Scott Gottlieb for FDA Commissioner
Summary
The U.S. Senate voted 57 to 42 on Tuesday to confirm Gottlieb, a physician and venture capitalist, to lead the regulatory agency.He succeeds former FDA commissioner Robert Califf, who stepped down in January after President Donald Trump took office.Public Citizen slammed President Trump’s nomination of Gottlieb, saying that his venture capital background creates too many conflicts of interest for someone whose job would be to regulate life science companies, including those in which he had business or investment relationships.Among the names floated for nomination as FDA commissioner, Gottlieb’s emerged as the early favorite of many in the pharmaceutical industry.Gottlieb said during his confirmation hearings that there are opportunities to streamline the FDA, but he also emphasized that the agency needs to uphold standards of safety and efficacy.