Public Health Advocates Worry Companies Will Exploit Leadership Vacuum When Gottlieb Steps Down From FDA

Many public health advocates view departing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb as an ally to their causes, especially the anti-tobacco movement. “We are at a fundamental crossroads and what happens in the next six to 12 months will have consequences for decades to come,” said Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. In other news from the Trump administration, the head of the Indian Health Services will speak to Congress about the agency's failure to address sexual abuse allegations against an IHS doctor. And HHS asks the Department of Defense to house 5,000 immigrant children.

The Washington Post: Health Advocates Worry About An FDA Without Scott Gottlieb

Scott Gottlieb, one of the most activist Food and Drug Administration commissioners in recent years, pushed ideas such as banning menthol in cigarettes and packaging opioids in small blister packs to prevent overuse. Those ideas seemed more startling because he was part of an anti-regulatory, pro-business administration. Now, with his surprise resignation, public health advocates are anxious about the fate of some of his more ambitious initiatives, whether his successor will embrace them — and whether the agency will get a permanent successor at all. (McGinley and Bernstein, 3/7)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ What’s Next For The FDA?

The resignation of Scott Gottlieb as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration caught many FDA watchers by surprise. Gottlieb has been an active regulator in a very anti-regulatory Trump administration. Unlike many Trump officials, Gottlieb’s work on e-cigarettes, nutrition, opioids and generic drugs has won him praise from both Democrats and Republicans. Meanwhile, efforts are underway on Capitol Hill and in the states to fix some problems with the Affordable Care Act. (3/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Indian Health Service Head To Face Questions On Failure To Stop Doctor Who Abused Patients

Lawmakers summoned the U.S. Indian Health Service’s leader to answer for the agency’s failure to stop a pediatrician from sexually abusing his child patients and a slate of longstanding problems with the quality of the agency’s care, according to a letter from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. The letter, sent Thursday, asks Rear Adm. Michael Weahkee, the IHS’s acting leader, to brief committee staff on the failures. Members of the committee, which oversees the IHS, said in interviews they expect to hold oversight hearings on the agency later this year. (Weaver and Frosch, 3/7)

The Hill: Trump Administration Asks Pentagon To House Up To 5,000 Migrant Children

Pentagon officials on Thursday confirmed that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has asked the Department of Defense (DOD) for space to house up to 5,000 immigrant children through the end of the fiscal year. HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan on Tuesday “requested DOD support to identify space to house up to 5,000 unaccompanied alien children on DOD installations, if needed, through September 30, 2019,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jamie Davis said in a statement. (Mitchell, 3/7)

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