As you may have heard there are a number of vacancies to be filled in the
leadership of HHS agencies -some have been vacant for up to 2 years.
Among the vacancies are NIH director, NINDS director, FDA director, and
most recently surgeon-general.
The people who will be appointed to these positiions, and their vision
for the agencies and for medical care and research are important to all
of us. SSo far this week there were reports on two leading candidates
Pres. Bush probably won't appoint.
Linda
FROM:
kaisernetwork.org Daily Reports - Feb. 19,2002.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=9551
"Official Reports that Bush Will Not Name Fauci to Head NIH
The Bush administration will not name "renowned" AIDS researcher Anthony
Fauci as the director of the NIH because of administrative and political
issues, including Fauci's unknown stance on abortion rights, according to
an unidentified official in the administration, the
AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Instead, President Bush is "close"
to naming an unidentified alternate candidate. The AP/Post-Dispatch
reports that HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson has been "pushing" for Fauci --
who has been the director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases since 1984 -- to be named NIH director since the
summer.
However, administration officials are concerned with Fauci's silence on
"whether he supports abortion rights." According to the
AP/Post-Dispatch, Fauci in the past has called research using tissue from
aborted fetuses "scientifically significant." In addition, Fauci has
indicated that he would like to continue his work as "[o]ne of the
nation's top AIDS researchers" if chosen to head NIH. Fauci has declined
offers to head the agency from former presidents because of "[s]imilar
concerns" over having time for research, although "friends say" that
Fauci "hoped to make it work" this time. Officials from the Bush
administration said that Fauci's "desire to continue scientific research"
was "at least as important" as the abortion issue in denying his bid for
the position. The AP/Post-Dispatch reports that the administration could
fill the position "as early as this month" (AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
2/16).
FROM: kaisernetwork.org Daily Reports
Feb. 21,2002
"White House Reportedly No Longer Considering Alastair Wood for FDA Head
Vanderbilt University pharmacology professor Alastair Wood will not be
nominated by President Bush to be commissioner of the FDA, the Nashville
Tennessean reports. According to Vanderbilt spokesperson Clinton
Colmenares, a White House official telephoned Wood on Feb. 18 to inform
Wood that the president "no longer considered him a candidate." Wood's
potential nomination had been opposed by pharmaceutical companies, which
were critical of his support for reviewing prescription drugs "even after
they are approved" by the FDA. Drug makers said they feared that such
reviews would slow down the approval process for new drugs. In addition,
as a member of an FDA advisory panel, Wood voted last year to allow
several prescription allergy drugs to be sold over the counter. Bush has
yet to announce a choice for FDA commissioner (Lewis, Nashville
Tennessean, 2/21)."
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