New Concerns Dog the FDA

You might think that after Michael Brown's FEMA fiasco, the White House would try to avoid any appearance of cronyism in job appointments requiring technical expertise. You might think that after the Plan B contraceptive flap and safety problems with drugs like Vioxx, it would seek to avoid controversy while picking someone to run the embattled Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Think again.

The Administration moved swiftly to name Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach as interim FDA chief after the September departure of Commissioner Lester Crawford just two months after his confirmation. (The Senate is investigating a possible failure to disclose financial interests.) Von Eschenbach, a Texas urologist with close ties to the Bush family, has no regulatory experience. Plus, he's already fully engaged. He has headed the National Cancer Institute (NCI) since 2002. The plan: have him do both jobs.

The likable, can-do surgeon and two-time cancer survivor is known for taking on outsize tasks, reflected best in his controversial vow to "end suffering and death due to cancer" by 2015. In a letter to the heads of major U.S. cancer centers, he talked up the virtue of having the FDA and NCI "work together" to smooth the path from lab bench to bedside.

But where the new chief sees synergy, others see conflict of interest. NCI supports research on treatments reviewed by the FDA. "How can you wear both hats and be true to the missions of both organizations?" asks Merrill Goozner of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Von Eschenbach also sits on the board of a nonprofit cancer advocacy group called C-Change--along with execs from major drug firms.

Such concerns led to the Administration's own Plan B. While remaining at NCI, von Eschenbach will turn over day-to-day management to deputy Dr. John Niederhuber. The acting FDA chief also reassured his staff that he "will not participate in certain FDA matters in which NCI is a party"--unless requested. --By Claudia Wallis and Eric Roston