Medicine

Trump's FDA Pick Is A Popular Choice In The Pharmaceutical Industry

Scott Gottlieb — a proponent of deregulation, cheap drugs and more efficiency — is President Trump's pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

Trump's FDA Pick Is A Popular Choice In The Pharmaceutical Industry
American Enterprise Institute
SMS

President Donald Trump says he's picked a nominee to run the Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a popular choice in the pharmaceutical industry.

He worked in the FDA under George W. Bush and is known and respected as a "constructive critic" of the agency. He's also written about the need for cheap medicine and more efficient regulatory processes.

But Gottlieb's critics point to the hundreds of thousands of dollars he received from big drug companies over the past few years and argue he would focus more on profit than patients.

Those in the industry saw Gottlieb's main competition for the nomination, Jim O'Neill, as too radical, and many said they worried O'Neill would diminish standards for testing drugs before approval.

Whoever is confirmed to run the FDA will have a major role in deciding what's allowed in the U.S. market, from medicine to cigarettes and some cosmetics.

Roughly 20 cents of each dollar Americans spend every year are on products the FDA regulates.