AEGiS-WSJ: Former New York Health Chief Is Top Candidate to Run FDA

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Former New York Health Chief Is Top Candidate to Run FDA

Wall Street Journal - March 11, 2009
Alicia Mundy

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has settled on two public-health experts to fill top posts at the Food and Drug Administration, people familiar with the matter said.

Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg, a former health commissioner in New York City, is the leading candidate to become FDA commissioner, the agency's top job, while Baltimore health chief Joshua Sharfstein is in line to become a deputy commissioner, the people said.

The search for an FDA chief has dragged on for months, leaving it as one of the few major federal agencies without a nominee. Behind the scenes, pharmaceutical companies and industry-supported patient groups have rallied support for candidates seen as more favorable to industry concerns, while consumer advocates have lobbied for their own choices.

The White House wants to position the FDA commissioner as someone who will lead the agency back to its core mission of public health, and the focus on Dr. Hamburg and Dr. Sharfstein fits that message, said people close to the situation. That strategy could avoid a congressional debate over whether the choices are perceived as pro- or anti-industry.

Dr. Hamburg, 54 years old, was one of the youngest New York City health commissioners and held the job at the time of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. She was an assistant secretary of health and human services during the Clinton administration and now works at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a think tank run by centrist former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn. She also serves on the board of Henry Schein Inc., a medical-equipment wholesaler.

During her stint in New York, she won support for a clean-needle-exchange program for drug addicts in order to limit the spread of AIDS. She opposed a "morality oath" demanded by the Board of Education in 1992 while the city was debating abstinence-focused sex education in schools. She said that science-driven public-health practices, and not "moral judgment" or "wishful thinking," should be the basis for educating youngsters on how to avoid AIDS.

Dr. Sharfstein, 39, was a candidate for the top job but roused strong opposition from some in the drug industry, according to lobbyists who pushed Republicans to oppose him. FDA deputies don't need Senate approval.

Write to Alicia Mundy at alicia.mundy@wsj.com
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