WASHINGTON, March 11, 2009
Obama Picks New Head For Troubled FDA
Former NYC Health Chief Margaret Hamburg To Lead Agency Tied To Food Safety Failures
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Margaret Hamburg speaks at University of South Florida in Tampa in this June, 2004 file photo. President Barack Obama intends to name the former New York City health commissioner to lead the troubled Food and Drug Administration, a source close to Hamburg said Wednesday, March 11, 2009. (AP Photo/St. Petersburg Times, Joseph Garnett, Jr.) (AP PHOTO)
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Hamburg and Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein have been talked about for weeks as the leading candidates for the top two spots at the agency, with Sharfstein as Hamburg's deputy commissioner.
On Wednesday, a person close to Hamburg said that announcement was imminent. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no White House confirmation. Spokesmen for the White House and the Health and Human Services Department declined to comment on the nomination.
The two physician-outsiders will be tasked with restoring credibility to an agency that has suffered a string of failures such as repeated food recalls - including the massive salmonella outbreak in peanut products.
Hamburg, 53, is a well-known bioterrorism expert who served as an assistant health secretary during the Clinton administration and helped lay the groundwork for much of the government's bioterrorism preparations and pandemic flu planning.
But she may be best known as the chief health officer of the nation's largest city during the early 1990s, when she designed a program that cut high rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis, supported needle-exchange to cut the spread of the AIDS virus and helped introduce smoking restrictions.
Sharfstein, 39, is a pediatrician who has been outspoken in efforts to improve oversight of children's cold and flu medications. Before becoming Baltimore's health chief in 2005, he served as health policy adviser to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., a congressional health leader.
Neither is steeped in the drug-approval process that is FDA's best-known function. But public health specialists had been pushing for outsiders who could bring a conflict-free perspective to an agency that struggles to balance the need for new treatments with ensuring that they're as safe as possible. Several praised the choices, first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
"What this to me represents is leadership at the Food and Drug Administration that will keep the public health first and foremost in mind," said Dr. Harvey Fineburg, president of the prestigious Institute of Medicine. He called Hamburg "a person committed to the public well-being, and that's the value you really want represented at the FDA."
The FDA was seen as drifting during the Bush administration, going long periods without a permanent commissioner who could be an advocate before Congress. Lawmakers piled new responsibilities on the agency, often without the funds to carry them out.
"You've got an organization that's demoralized and one that wants to enhance its scientific integrity," said Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association. "She's all about integrity and science. ... She can be tough when she needs to be, and she's going to need to be real tough in that job."
Sharfstein declined to comment Wednesday; Hamburg, currently a senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative think tank, didn't immediately return e-mails seeking comment.
Hamburg will require Senate confirmation; Sharfstein won't.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not b published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 62 CommentsBlame Jimmy Carter
Blame Bill Clinton
Blame Barack Obama
Oppose everything
Deny responsibility for anything
Propose nothing
Problem solved !
The Bush Administration DIDN'T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING.
A total disaster that we will be fixing for the next 10 years.
One UNAMERICAN would be more appropriate
Obama lies and your money is gone.
Posted by vistavermin1 at 6:56 AM : Mar 12, 2009
So let me get this right:
The stock market tanked because of the housing bubble bursting, and it burst because loans with "teaser rates" that were written from 2002 -2007 started to "reset", and it's the 110th congresses fault, because they didn't "time travel" backwards to prevent those loans from being written in the first place?
I suppose it's the 100th congress' fault that ALL of Bush's cabinet level agencies, (like OFHEO, HUD, SEC, etc, etc), ignored ALL of their oversight responsibilities from 2001 - 2009 too, right?
Posted by hungry1968-15 at 7:15 AM : Mar 12, 2009
Well said!
Wow.
That's a pretty catchy slogan the Democrats have adopted in their new ad campaign, isn't it?
But it sounds like the Democrats are pretty unhappy with Obama, for them to call him a "rush to failure".
But look on the bright side, Democrats - you can always impeach Obama - you would have enough votes.
Look for the new slogan on a billboard near you!
Posted by TheMasses17 at 7:06 AM : Mar 12, 2009
Who is he, and what is Normura Securities?
Obama lies and your money is gone.
Posted by vistavermin1 at 6:56 AM : Mar 12, 2009
So let me get this right:
The stock market tanked because of the housing bubble bursting, and it burst because loans with "teaser rates" that were written from 2002 -2007 started to "reset", and it's the 110th congresses fault, because they didn't "time travel" backwards to prevent those loans from being written in the first place?
I suppose it's the 100th congress' fault that ALL of Bush's cabinet level agencies, (like OFHEO, HUD, SEC, etc, etc), ignored ALL of their oversight responsibilities from 2001 - 2009 too, right?
It's down over 3,000 since Obama election.
Posted by vistavermin1 at 6:48 AM : Mar 12, 2009
It's down 43% from October 2007.
What's your point?
Posted by endurorob at 6:43 AM : Mar 12, 2009
BS!!!
This smear and garbage was posted here EVERYDAY, ad nauseum!!!
You freaks and weirdos got a hold of a Hannity or O'Reilly lie, and smeared it all over the internet non-stop, and it continued for MONTHS after the election!!
one of the requirements to work for O-Duma..
Posted by cornbiker at 6:33 AM : Mar 12, 2009
WOW!!
You're witty!
What are you - 8 years old?
Posted by bobnjersey at 6:30 AM : Mar 12, 2009
This was mostly by fringe elements and talk radio. The mainstreem media more or less made slight mentin and let it be. On the other hand when McCain selected Palin the MSM decended on Alaska looking of any dirt they could find. Hell, a nutjob woman on the internet calims Palins most recent baby was actually her daughters and the MSM jump all over it without checking into to it.
[Posted by endurorob at 6:13 AM : Mar 12, 2009 ]
is this why all the claims about him being ineligible for the presidency due to where he was born ... that he's a muslim ... that he's a terrorist ... that he hates america ... have yet to be proven in any way? is it all because 'the big bad boogey man media' gave him a pass?
don't you idiots see that all of this bluster is just means for you all to continue your infantile ... and unsubstantiated rants about him endlessly?
i seem to recall nothing but incessant references to ayers, wright, he's a muslim, he's a terrorist, he wasn't born in the us ... he has no experience ... he's the most liberal senator ... blah blah blah. even the republican candidates got into the fray ... whooping up their rally crowds to call for his assasination. how patriotic ... don't like what you see ... lets kill it!
[Posted by withad-2009 at 5:48 AM : Mar 12, 2009 ]
have you ever changed jobs? do you know anyone who has? is it safe to assume that anyone who changes jobs has done so because they weren't good at it.
those who are really good usually move up ... until they've reached the top of the tree they're on ... then they need to get into another tree to move further.
where exactly do you people get this unbelievably distorted view of the world? really .... help me out here ... your statement was as ridiculous as they come. where do you suppose this comes from? do you see the absurdity of your statement?
Posted by endurorob at 6:13 AM : Mar 12, 2009
A pass on everything?
He had the most detailed website of ALL the candidates, and his policies and plans were VERY clear and laid out, and he wasn't afraid of the media or answering questions like McCain was.
Also, he didn't have anything to hide like his 7 or 8 McMansions, his fleet of personal vehicles, his drug addicted wife, or the Bimbilla from Wasilla dragging down him down.
You clowns were too worried about Bill Ayers and Rev Wright to pay attention to the ACTUAL news when it was reported!! That's YOUR FAULT - not his!
[Posted by perceptions5 at 5:21 AM : Mar 12, 2009 ]
oh deception5 ... all powerful and knowing ... where should the empty suit be? he's just an ineligible muslim terrorist who espouses to communism and read karl marx in his free time. so what exactly do you expect of him? isn't he meeting your expectation?
what would gwb be doing right now ... besides spending a month vacation on his fake ranch in crawford?
2 - blame yourselves and everyone else that tried to keep Rev Wright, Ayers, and his birth certificate at the forefront of the news reporting, even though they were already dispelled rumors, lies, and smear.
Posted by hungry1968-15 at 6:06 AM : Mar 12, 2009
Where do you come up with him being so scrutinized. He got a pass on pretty much everything because the media is so worried about being called racist.
All of a sudden people are not responsible for their actions and they cry WE NEED BIG GOVERNMENT to take care of their every little problem! When it's most likely that the corrupt liberal government employees have been bribed to look the other way instead of doing their job.
Their mentality is OH MY, DA MAN IS KEEPING ME DOWN, so it's okay if I take the bribe of this fat cat....it's my revenge on society because I can't educate myself up out of poverty!
Posted by TheBiggestMistakeAmerica at 5:21 AM : Mar 12, 2009
Yeah - that's it.
Bush hired "a bunch of liberal government employees that have been bribed to look the other way instead of doing their job". That's why this whole mess started in 2002.
Brilliant - stick with that bizarre thought.
It has been a frighteningly chaotic mess since day one.
This is an Administration of political zealots in love with government rather than appreciation of of our country.
Thank you national media for letting Obama skate through the election without a single day of critical observation.
Now,we and the world suffer at the hands of zealots, lobbyists and special interests.
And where is the President? Hiding behind photo ops and teleprompters.
Posted by perceptions5 at 5:21 AM : Mar 12, 2009
Over their head? What did Bush do for his last YEAR in office about this ever escalating problem, other than sit on the sidelines, and watch the collapse unfold?
And if you want to cry about Obama not getting a "single day of critical observation":
1 - he was more scrutinized than ANY candidate in recent history, dating back to Gary Hart.
2 - blame yourselves and everyone else that tried to keep Rev Wright, Ayers, and his birth certificate at the forefront of the news reporting, even though they were already dispelled rumors, lies, and smear.
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