Senate confirms von Eschenbach

The Senate yesterday (Dec. 7) confirmed Andrew C. von Eschenbach to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration by an overwhelming vote of 80 to 11, giving the beleaguered agency its first permanent leader in 15 months. The former director of the National Cancer Institute had been serving as acting FDA chief since September 2005, when Lester M. Crawford abruptly resigned amid questions about his financial dealings with companies regulated by the FDA."Dr. von Eschenbach's experience as a cancer surgeon and his leadership as director of the National Cancer Institute afford him unique insights into the critical need to advance new treatments for patients with life-threatening illnesses," said Jim Greenwood, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, in a statement yesterday. Von Eschenbach's Senate confirmation had been held up since September due to opposition from a handful of senators concerned over the agency's marketing approval of the Plan B emergency contraception pill and the Bush administration's policies on drug reimportation from Canada. While those senators' concerns were subsequently resolved, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) last month placed another hold on von Eschenbach's confirmation and threatened a filibuster to prevent a full vote.Grassley, a perennial FDA critic and author of legislation to restructure the agency, has been fighting this past year for access to officials and internal documents concerning the agency's approval and post-market surveillance of Ketek, an antibiotic linked to acute liver failure and deaths. Grassley charged that von Eschenbach has stonewalled committee requests for documents and threatened FDA scientists and whistleblowers against cooperating."The way the FDA under this nominee has handled the investigation of Ketek shows the agency would like to keep its business secret," Grassley said yesterday. "It doesn't want these issues made public or subjected to scrutiny. The culture at the FDA has been, 'We will let the public know what we think they need to know.'" Von Eschenbach has contended that disclosing such sensitive information to Congress could jeopardize the FDA's ability to enforce and litigate infractions. In the face of a threatened filibuster by Grassley to block the vote, the Senate earlier yesterday voted 89 to 6 to invoke cloture and end debate on the nomination. "Dr. von Eschenbach has done a superb job in the position he is currently occupying," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday in filing the motion for cloture. "It is time for the Senate to vote on this outstanding nominee. There are very few, if any, people who substantially are opposed to this nomination."But Grassley yesterday was unrelenting. "People ought to be ashamed of saying Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach has done a superb job in the position he is currently occupying," Grassley said in one of three speeches on the Senate floor. "A vote for this nominee would be an endorsement of the stonewalling and disrespect for Congress he's shown by not complying with congressional oversight."Despite Grassley's opposition, von Eschenbach yesterday won praise from Democrats and Republicans alike. "Dr. von Eschenbach has done an excellent job in his career and would make an excellent administrator of FDA," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.). "He is an accomplished scientist, a proven manager, and a man with vision," added Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which approved von Eschenbach's nomination in September. "He is also a cancer survivor, and he has brought that perspective, and the compassion that goes with it, to his government service.""It is long past time to remove the word 'acting' from the title of commissioner, and give the FDA the full leadership it needs to confront the challenges ahead," said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is likely to chair the HELP Committee next year when the Democrats formally take control of the Senate.Ted Agres tagres@the-scientist.comLinks within this article:L. Newman, "News Profile: Andrew C. von Eschenbach," The Scientist, April 1, 2002 http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/12978T. Agres, "Panel urges FDA overhaul," The Scientist, Sept. 25, 2006 http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/24884/Senator Charles Grassley http://www.senate.gov/~grassleyT. Agres, "The Future of the FDA," The Scientist, Dec. 1, 2006 http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/36885/HELP Committee http://help.senate.gov

Senate confirms von Eschenbach

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