Obama Names Hamburg Fda Chief, Pledges to Improve Nourishment Precaution
Hamburgs record as a public health official and her work to reduce the threat of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons make her an ideal choice for FDA commissioner, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.
“Dr. Hamburg brings to this vital position not only a reputation of integrity, but a record of achievement in making Americans safer and more secure,” Obama said. He also named Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore health commissioner since 2005, as deputy commissioner to the agency.
Obama said part of their “critical” work at the FDA will be ensuring the safety of the nations food supply. The new food safety working group hes forming will advise him on how to update and enforce food safety laws. Obama ordered the group to report back to him with recommendations “as soon as possible.”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the chief of Health and Human Services will head the panel, which will coordinate its work with other agencies, according to the administration. Obama nominated Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, on March 2 as his choice to lead HHS.
Troubling Trend
Recent outbreaks of contamination of the food supply, including spinach in 2006 and an instance involving peanuts this year that resulted in more than 660 illnesses and nine deaths, reflect a “troubling trend,” Obama said. The number of incidences of tainted produce and other foods has risen to almost 350 a year, up from 100 a year in the early 1990s, according to the Democratic president.
“Part of the reason is that many of the laws and regulations governing food safety in America have not been updated since they were written in the time of Teddy Roosevelt,” Obama said, referring to the 26th U.S. president.
Obama also blamed lack of adequate funding and staffing at the FDA, which doesnt have the resources to inspect about 95 percent of U.S. food processing plans and warehouses.
“That is a hazard to public health. It is unacceptable,” Obama said. “It will change under the leadership of Dr. Margaret Hamburg.”
The president said that hes put $1 billion in his budget plan to strengthen the food safety system and modernize laboratories. Part of that money will go toward boosting the number of food inspectors, he said.
Agriculture Department
Obama last month promised a full review of the FDA, the countrys largest regulatory agency, overseeing products that account for $1 trillion in consumer spending and range from lipstick to heart stents. The agency has an annual budget of almost $2 billion and 11,000 employees.
Hamburg, 53, would bring to the FDA a background in neuroscience, drug research and public health. As New York Citys health commissioner from 1991 to 1997, she gained experience running a large bureaucracy.
She designed a tuberculosis control program that reduced New Yorks TB rate by 46 percent between 1992 and 1997, and by 86 percent for the most resistant strains, according to the National Library of Medicine. She also created the first program in the U.S. to help the public prepare and respond in the event of a terrorist attack using a biological agent, such as anthrax.
Public Safety Group
She joined the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington- based group focused on reducing the public safety threat from chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, in 2001.
Sharfstein, 39, made national headlines in March 2007 by petitioning the FDA to ban the marketing of over-the-counter cough and cold drugs to children younger than 6 because of the risk of side effects and lack of proven benefits. His year-and- a-half fight prompted companies to warn against use by infants and toddlers last October.
He has also criticized drugmakers over distributing gifts to doctors.