Dr. Hamburg Leaving FDA

http://ryortho.com/2015/02/dr-hamburg-leaving-fda/

Margaret Hamburg, M.D., who became the 21st commissioner of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) almost six years ago, is reportedly leaving the agency. The Washington Post reported on February 5, 2015 that Stephen Ostroff, the FDA’s chief scientist and a former official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will take over as acting commissioner…

But everyone wasn’t gracious in bidding the Commissioner adieu. If industry liked her, she must be suspect. “I’m pleased to see her go,” said Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and the head of an addiction treatment center in New York. The Post said Kolodny clashed with the FDA over its failure to curb abuse of the powerful drugs. “Her administration consistently put the interests of the drug companies ahead of public health.”

Tell me, Mr. Kolodny, which interests are you putting first?  Your own?  The DEA’s?  Wouldn’t want to risk all those federal dollars that end up in your bank account, right?  Your interests are causing a lot of suffering in the pain patient population, many of whom cannot find a doctor to treat them.  I wonder how many suicides your “advocacy” is ultimately responsible for?

And wouldn’t it be nice if reporters actually investigated their own stories?  Mr. Kolodny is not just “the head of an addiction treatment center in New York.”  How many Phoenix Houses are there now?  I’ve lost count.

Before she arrived, the agency had failed to warn of the dangers of the pain drug Vioxx. In 2005, then commissioner Lester Crawford, who had hidden ownership of stock in companies the agency was regulating, abruptly resigned…