FDA pick parries questions at collegial confirmation hearing
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration parried questions on crises ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the opioid epidemic, during a collegial Senate hearing Tuesday that seemed to bode well for his confirmation.
Dr. Robert Califf, who served briefly as FDA commissioner toward the end of the Obama administration, promised that if confirmed he would use data to streamline the approval of COVID treatments and tests, conduct a full review of the agency's controversial handling of opioid painkillers, maintain focus on tobacco regulation, work to make prescription drugs more affordable, and confront medical misinformation on social media.
A cardiologist with strong connections to the pharmaceutical industry and academic research centers, Califf insisted to the senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee that public service is his motivation for returning to the FDA. In a self-deprecating aside, he referred to himself as “a 70-year-old person with nothing to gain."
His most pointed questioning came from Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who underscored Califf's connections to drug companies and his multi-million dollar investments in pharma stocks. “What kind of comfort can you give to the American people when you have been so closely tied to the pharmaceutical industry yourself?” demanded Sanders.
Responded Califf: “I'm totally with you. The price of pharmaceuticals is way too high in this country."
Top Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina said he hoped his colleagues would vote for Califf, while Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told the nominee, “I thank you for your vision.”
The FDA has been straining for months under a massive pandemic workload even as a series of scientific disputes —...