FDA commissioner to step down

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., announced that he will step down in about a month, according to numerous public reports. Gottlieb was sworn in as the 23rd FDA commissioner on May 11, 2017. Gottlieb is a physician, medical policy expert and public health advocate who previously served as the FDA's deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs, and before that, as a senior advisor to the FDA commissioner. He also worked on implementation of the Medicare drug benefit as a senior advisor to the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where he supported policy work on quality improvement and the agency’s coverage process, particularly as it related to new medical technologies.
 
In a statement, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, “Scott’s leadership inspired historic results from the FDA team, which delivered record approvals of both innovative treatments and affordable generic drugs, while advancing important policies to confront opioid addiction, tobacco and youth e-cigarette use, chronic disease, and more.”