New Era at FDA

After months of delay, the Senate confirmed Lester Crawford in July as the official head of the Food and Drug Administration. Crawford's nomination had been put on hold as various legislators sought to pressure FDA to take action on pet issues, such as drug importing and approval of an over-the-counter version of the "morning-after" pill Plan B. Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) reflected general concerns about the agency in criticizing Crawford for not tackling drug safety failures and FDA's "structural, personnel, cultural and scientific problems."

In the end, Grassley and most Senators agreed with the leadership on both sides of the aisle that FDA would be better off with a permanent chief than without. Now it's up to the new commissioner to demonstrate that FDA decisions will be based on scientific and medical evidence —and not on pressure from industry or political leaders.

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