Obama Names Sharfstein to Serve as Interim FDA Commissioner
President Barack Obama has named appointee Joshua Sharfstein to serve as acting Food and Drug Administration commissioner until Obama’s top pick to lead the agency earns Senate confirmation.
Sharfstein, the former Baltimore health commissioner who served on Obama’s presidential transition team, was previously tapped to be the principle deputy to former New York City health commissioner Margaret Hamburg. Hamburg is Obama’s pick to lead the FDA, but she must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before she can run the agency, and that process could take several weeks.
Frank Torti, who has served as acting FDA commissioner since Obama took office in late January, reportedly will return to his job at Wake Forest University on April 4, leaving Sharfstein in charge.
FDA Under Fire
Sharfstein takes over control, albeit temporarily, of an embattled agency. The FDA has been rocked by intense criticism over recent handlings of new drug approvals and deadly outbreaks of contaminated peanut butter and peanut products. Some critics have said the FDA has failed to quickly detect contaminated food after failing to conduct inspections of food-processing plants.
Calls are coming from all corners to overhaul the FDA. Some of the proposed revisions would include restructuring the agency to remove the job of monitoring food safety from under the FDA and placing that duty with a newly created agency under the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
It is anticipated that Sharfstein will only be charged with holding down the fort at the FDA long enough for Hamburg to come on board and implement broader changes and reforms.
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