Clancy, Leibowitz to step down from key federal posts

Two federal officials with significant influence in healthcare are leaving the Obama administration. Dr. Carolyn Clancy, who has led HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for nearly a decade, will leave her post “in the coming months,” according to a memo to employees from HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Clancy, 59, an internist, was named AHRQ’s director in February 2003 and was reappointed in October 2009. She joined AHRQ in 1990 and previously served as director of its Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research. Sebelius praised Clancy for raising AHRQ’s visibility and spearheading initiatives focused on healthcare disparities and patient safety. The same day Clancy’s departure was revealed, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz said he would step down Feb. 15. Leibowitz, 54, has served as one of five commissioners on the FTC since 2004 and chairman since March 2009. Under his leadership, the FTC brought lawsuits to stop hospital mergers in Georgia, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania and, in Nevada, brought its first-ever action to protest a physician-practice acquisition. The commission has also waged a high-profile battle against brandname drug manufacturers who pay potential competitors not to market generic equivalent drugs. “Healthcare has been a priority here for many years,” FTC Competition Bureau Director Richard Feinstein said. “I think it’s appropriate that it is—it affects everybody. And I would think it will remain a priority.”