Trump's Potential Nominee For FDA Has Advocated To Let Patients Use Drugs 'At Their Own Risk'

Jim O’Neill is a libertarian who has said that organ donors should be paid and who is an advocate for setting up floating communities at sea on the theory that existing governments are woefully ineffective.

Stat: Trump Weighing FDA Chief Who Would Radically Change The Rules

President-elect Donald Trump is weighing naming as Food and Drug Administration commissioner a staunch libertarian who has called for eliminating the agency’s mandate to determine whether new medicines are effective before approving them for sale. “Let people start using them, at their own risk,” the candidate, Jim O’Neill, said in a 2014 speech to a biotech group. O’Neill, has also called for paying organ donors and setting up libertarian societies at sea — and has said he was surprised to discover that FDA regulators actually enjoy science and like working to fight disease. (Kaplan, 12/7)

Bloomberg: Trump Team Said To Consider Thiel Associate O’Neill For FDA

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is considering a Silicon Valley investor close to billionaire Peter Thiel to head the Food and Drug Administration, according to people familiar with the matter. Jim O’Neill, the Thiel associate, hasn’t been officially selected, according to the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the decision process is private, and the Trump team could still go in another direction. (Armstrong, Jacobs and Langreth, 12/7)

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