Source: Trump picks former FDA official to oversee agency
Nominee has ties to Big Pharma
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is choosing a conservative doctor-turned-pundit with deep ties to Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry to lead the powerful Food and Drug Administration, a White House official said Friday.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb would be tasked with Trump’s goal of cutting red tape at the FDA, which regulates everything from pharmaceuticals to seafood. Trump has called the FDA’s drug approval process “slow and burdensome” despite changes to speed reviews, particularly of cutting-edge products.
The White House official confirmed Trump’s selection of Gottlieb on condition of anonymity because the nomination has not been formally announced.
Gottlieb, 44, is no stranger to the FDA — he served as a deputy commissioner under President George W. Bush. While he has frequently criticized the FDA for unnecessary regulations, he has generally supported its overall mission.
Gottlieb is a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a partner in the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. He has spent more than a decade in Washington rotating between the worlds of government, health policy consulting and political think tanks.
Since leaving the FDA in 2007, Gottlieb has served as a board member or adviser to at least nine pharmaceutical or medical technology companies, according to his LinkedIn profile. Gottlieb is a consultant to GlaxoSmithKline’s product investment board; a managing director at T.R. Winston & Company merchant bank, which specializes in health care; and a clinical assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine. He is also a policy adviser to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.
There are likely to be questions at his Senate confirmation hearing about how those ties might affect his decisions at the FDA.