Proposed FDA Nominee Wood Might Not Bring ‘Consumer-Oriented Approach,’ Wall Street Journal Editorial Says

Potential FDA Commissioner nominee Alastair Wood, a pharmacologist at Vanderbilt University, might not bring a much needed "consumer-oriented approach" to the agency, a Wall Street Journal editorial says. Although Wood, as a member of an FDA panel, last year voted in favor of giving non-sedating allergy drugs, such as Claritin and Allegra, over-the-counter status, the editorial raises concerns that as commissioner, Wood might not apply such a consumer-friendly approach "across the board." For example, the editorial cites a 1999 Journal of the American Medical Association article Wood wrote that advocates for a "whole new regulatory agency to monitor drugs after they are approved by the FDA" because of the number of patients injured or killed by approved drugs. In addition, Wood also supports a prohibition on direct-to-consumer advertising until post-marketing studies have been completed to prevent "the excessively rapid uptake of new drugs," a policy that the Journal says would keep information about new drugs from patients, even though the FDA has declared the medication "safe and effective." The Journal says that such a "regulatory approach seems ill-suited to the information age and broadly out of line with the president's declared aim of expanding consumer choice in health care." Instead, the FDA commissioner should give doctors and patients "more authority to decide what treatment risks are acceptable" and "speed up" the review process for new drugs, the editorial says. But given the manner in which "Democrats have treated other Bush nominees," the Journal says that it is not "surpris[ing]" that the White House has tried to reach a deal with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, who could support Wood. Even though Wood "could be the man for the job," the Journal says that he "deserves careful scrutiny." The editorial concludes, "The president needs a nominee who is right for patients more than one who is right for Sen. Kennedy" (Wall Street Journal, 1/17).