After a contentious affirmation course of, the US Senate immediately voted 50-46 to verify President Joe Biden’s nominee, heart specialist Robert Califf, to helm the Meals and Drug Administration. Califf, who beforehand led the company in the course of the ultimate 10 months of President Barack Obama’s administration, drew opposition from some Senate Democrats and from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on account of his ties to the pharmaceutical trade; he beforehand labored at Verily, a biotechnology firm with the identical dad or mum firm as Google, and has consulted for a number of drug corporations.
See “Biden Picks Robert Califf to Head the FDA for a Second Time”
In a press release following the affirmation vote, Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA), who voted no, cites what he calls “the FDA’s egregious mishandling of opioid approvals and its position in enabling the present opioid epidemic.” Markey continues: “I’ve not acquired any actual dedication from Dr. Califf to actually reform the FDA or to study from the failures that fueled this public well being disaster.”
In feedback quoted by The New York Instances, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions, says, “Dr. Califf’s earlier service on this position, his profession as one of many nation’s main analysis scientists, offers him the expertise to tackle this problem.”
In keeping with STAT, Califf has requested Janet Woodcock, who has been serving as performing FDA commissioner, to remain on in a management position after his affirmation.
