Ex-FDA chief tapped to critique agency

Here's a turnabout for you: George W. Bush's FDA chief is joining a think-tank effort to overhaul the agency, the WSJ Health Blog reports. Andrew von Eschenbach [1] has signed on as an adviser to the Center for Health Transformation, the brainchild of Newt Gingrich. His task: To lead the charge on the think-tank's 21st Century FDA Modernization Project.

The idea is to improve the effectiveness of the FDA. Ironic, isn't it, considering that von Eschenbach already had a full-time chance to improve the agency. But the think tank's goal is actually a bit narrower: It wants to speed up drug approval. Gingrich's group says it takes new meds 17 years to get to patients, but that's a figure disputed by others, namely Public Citizen, as an industry beef, not an objective assessment.

Meanwhile, von Eschenbach's successor, Commissioner Margaret Hamburg (photo [2]), has embarked on her own FDA overhaul effort [3]. She's restructured its various divisions and launched several new initiatives. Perhaps the biggest: a push to beef up and speed up enforcement efforts. And she's outlined her vision of the FDA not just as a regulator, but as a public-health agency [4]. We'll have to wait and see how von Eschenbach responds to the "new FDA" in his new role as outsider-critic.

- read the think tank's release
[5]- see the Health Blog post [6]

Related Articles:
FDA chiefs: We're for public health [4]
Changes for a faster, more aggressive FDA [7]
Can a tough, persuasive Hamburg overhaul FDA? [3]
FDA chief to step down as Obama's sworn in [8]
Eschenbach offers 'Andy's Take' on FDA issues [9]