FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, Resigns

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, has resigned, according to reports from the Washington Postand a statement from Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Alex Azar. The resignation will be effective in a month, according to HHS.

“All of us at HHS are proud of the remarkable work Commissioner Gottlieb has done at the FDA. He has been an exemplary public health leader, aggressive advocate for American patients, and passionate promoter of innovation. I will personally miss working with Scott on the important goals we share, and I know that is true for so many other members of the HHS family,” Azar said in a March 5, 2019 statement. “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. The public health of our country is better off for the work Scott and the entire FDA team have done over the last two years.”

The Washington Post is reporting that the resignation was not at the request of the White House, and was a surprise some FDA officials.

Source: Washington Post, HHS