Originally Published MX November/December 2002

BUSINESS NEWS

McClellan Confirmed
as New FDA Commissioner

Twenty-two months of wrangling between the Bush administration and Democratic
members of Congress finally came to an end in October, as the Senate confirmed
the nomination of Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD, to become the next commissioner
of FDA.

An
internist and medical economist, McClellan has been a member of the president's
Council of Economic Advisers since July 2001 (see sidebar).

Disagreements over the qualifications of previous near-nominees had held up appointment of a new commissioner since the beginning of the current Bush administration. Several potential nominees were set aside because of Democratic objections to their previous connections with the pharmaceutical industry.