Margaret Hamburg said to be Obama's pick to head the FDA

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Noam N. Levey

The physician is a former New York City health commissioner and a onetime Clinton official. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health chief, is expected to be named her deputy.

Reporting from Washington -- President Obama has decided to nominate former New York City Health Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to head the Food and Drug Administration, turning to a onetime Clinton administration official to help right the beleaguered regulatory agency, a source briefed on the choice said Wednesday.

Hamburg, 53, a physician who has worked extensively on bioterrorism issues, is a senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based foundation focused on threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Though less experienced as a regulator, Hamburg has extensive government experience. She served as health commissioner in New York for six years in the 1990s before becoming assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services in 1997.

Another leader in public health, Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, 39, is widely expected to be named Hamburg's deputy.

A pediatrician by training, Sharfstein led the Obama transition team's assessment of the FDA. He also has worked as an aide to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), a leading critic of the pharmaceutical industry.

The president will be looking to Hamburg and Sharfstein -- choices first reported by the Wall Street Journal -- to strengthen the FDA's regulatory oversight after controversies involving its drug and device approvals and its response to a series of outbreaks of food-borne illness.

Just two months ago, inspectors from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the agency was fast-tracking approvals of medical devices without sufficient review.

And agency scientists recently called on the Obama administration to remove senior medical device regulators whom they accused of corrupting the FDA's review process.

"Current senior FDA employees are too close with the industries they regulate," said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a frequent critic who chairs the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations. "The new FDA commissioner must recognize that the FDA works for the American people, not drug companies and food producers."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wa...0,2351278.story

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

another clintonite......no surprise there.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

another clintonite......no surprise there.

Someone actually qualified to do the job....no surprise there.

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

another clintonite......no surprise there.

Someone actually qualified to do the job....no surprise there.

so being a clintonite makes one qualified? if so, why weren't you rooting for hillary over obama?

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

another clintonite......no surprise there.

Someone actually qualified to do the job....no surprise there.

so being a clintonite makes one qualified? if so, why weren't you rooting for hillary over obama?

[HAL 9000 96]

Yeah so back to simple, 1:1, logic, Hamburg... makes me want to have a hamburger soon.

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

Yeah so back to simple, 1:1, logic, Hamburg... makes me want to have a hamburger soon.

figures, won't say a thing about another clinton legacy showing up.

[HAL 9000 96]

Yeah so back to simple, 1:1, logic, Hamburg... makes me want to have a hamburger soon.

figures, won't say a thing about another clinton legacy showing up.

[Pooky 3,794]

Though less experienced as a regulator, Hamburg has extensive government experience. She served as health commissioner in New York for six years in the 1990s before becoming assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services in 1997.

In the argument over whether she is qualified or not, the above excerpt from the original quote is most appropriate. As a physician, she is, without doubt, qualified. As a regulator, it can be argued, she is not.

Just being 's advocate here on a Saturday night.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I could swear I saw this gal on a makeover show. I think it was Clinton and Stacy's "What Not to Wear" on TLC. I know I did. Wow! Apparently, it got her noticed.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

another clintonite......no surprise there.

more 'change'

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

Yeah so back to simple, 1:1, logic, Hamburg... makes me want to have a hamburger soon.

figures, won't say a thing about another clinton legacy showing up.

go to sleep, i'm not expecting any criticism of the obama camp from you.

[HAL 9000 96]

Yeah so back to simple, 1:1, logic, Hamburg... makes me want to have a hamburger soon.

figures, won't say a thing about another clinton legacy showing up.

go to sleep, i'm not expecting any criticism of the obama camp from you.

Not of this particular topic, since your hardon comes from this woman being a Clintonite. Ohhhhh dirty. Time to insert sly, blue dress remark now, thereby bypassing the entire FDA in one swell Charlespost.

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

Yeah so back to simple, 1:1, logic, Hamburg... makes me want to have a hamburger soon.

figures, won't say a thing about another clinton legacy showing up.

go to sleep, i'm not expecting any criticism of the obama camp from you.

Not of this particular topic, since your hardon comes from this woman being a Clintonite. Ohhhhh dirty. Time to insert sly, blue dress remark now, thereby bypassing the entire FDA in one swell Charlespost.

since you did that instead of me, can we call you a right winger now?

[HAL 9000 96]

Yeah so back to simple, 1:1, logic, Hamburg... makes me want to have a hamburger soon.

figures, won't say a thing about another clinton legacy showing up.

go to sleep, i'm not expecting any criticism of the obama camp from you.

Not of this particular topic, since your hardon comes from this woman being a Clintonite. Ohhhhh dirty. Time to insert sly, blue dress remark now, thereby bypassing the entire FDA in one swell Charlespost.

since you did that instead of me, can we call you a right winger now?

Only if I am you. Besides, I'm not the one making incongruous similarities between political leaning and content.