President Bush announced Monday that he would nominate the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Lester Crawford, to be the agency’s permanent commissioner. The announcement comes amid a congressional investigation of the agency and widespread calls that it strengthen its oversight of drug safety.
Crawford, who was considered and rejected for the same job by Bush in 2001, has made priorities out of speeding crucial drug approvals, protecting drugs and food from terrorist attacks and improving the manufacture and safety of medicines. He has opposed legalizing drug imports.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt is expected to visit the FDA’s Rockville, Md., offices Tuesday, both to praise Crawford and to announce new efforts by the FDA to improve the agency’s ability to uncover unknown dangers of marketed drugs.
Leavitt called Crawford “an outstanding choice” who “has dedicated his career to advancing the nation’s public health.” A widely anticipated three-day drug advisory committee meeting starts Wednesday to examine, in part, how the agency handled questions over the safety of the huge-selling pain pills, Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra.
Problems at the agency led many in Congress to demand that the administration nominate a commissioner soon. But finding a well-respected physician or researcher who has not worked recently for the drug industry, taken a controversial position on abortion or contraceptives, or otherwise acted or spoken out in impolitic ways has proved difficult.
Reactions to Crawford’s nomination were mixed. Republicans and even some Democrats on Capitol Hill welcomed the nomination. Some consumer advocates announced their opposition.
“Under Dr. Crawford’s watch, the FDA has failed to protect the public from dangerous prescription drugs, dietary supplements and contaminated animal feed that could carry mad cow disease,” said Janell Mayo Duncan, legislative and regulatory counsel for Consumers Union, a product testing and advocacy group.
But not all consumer groups joined this chorus.
“He’s not my ideal candidate, but the devil you know is better than the one you don’t,” said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a frequent critic of the government.
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Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) praised the selection of Crawford. “The FDA regrettably has had a very challenging year and needs permanent leadership,” said Gregg, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said he, too, welcomed the nomination. “Dr. Crawford has had a long association with the FDA and is intimately familiar with the issues facing the agency,” he said.
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson in 2001 tapped Crawford as his choice for FDA commissioner, but Bush blocked the appointment at the time. Instead, Crawford became the agency’s deputy commissioner.
Crawford’s leadership of the FDA has come under fierce criticism. When British health authorities condemned more than 40 million doses of flu vaccine coming from a crucial plant in England, Crawford said he was “shocked” by the news, a comment that led some to ask why his agency was surprised.
The agency was slow to acknowledge that antidepressants can cause depressed children and teens to become suicidal. When Merck & Co. withdrew Vioxx in September because of data showing that the drug hurt the heart, the agency came under widespread criticism for failing to warn more strongly about the drug’s dangers years earlier.
Some of the fiercest criticism of Crawford came from abortion-rights groups, who are angry that top FDA officials last year overruled agency drug reviewers and refused to approve over-the-counter sales of Plan B, a prescription emergency contraceptive. The groups accused the agency of ignoring science and making the decision on political grounds. An agency official denied the charge then.
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About Crawford
Key facts: He’s 66 and married to Catherine Crawford, with two children.
Education: He’s a veterinarian, graduating from Auburn University in Alabama in 1963. Also holds a PhD in pharmacology from University of Georgia.
Non-government experience: Director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Georgetown University; executive director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges; executive vice president of the National Food Processors Association.
Government experience: Acting FDA commissioner 2004-present, and deputy commissioner 2002-04. Deputy administrator and later administrator of U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service 1986-91.