Former NYC Health Commissioner Hamburg Considered Top Candidate For FDA Head

Main Category: Regulatory Affairs / Drug Approvals
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 12 Mar 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Former New York City Health Commissioner Margaret Hamburg is the Obama administration's leading candidate for FDA commissioner, sources familiar with the process said recently, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, Baltimore health chief Joshua Sharfstein is the leading candidate for FDA deputy commissioner.

While serving as New York City health commissioner, Hamburg opposed a "morality oath" put forth by the Board of Education in 1992 when New York City was considering abstinence-only sex education. She also said that science-based public health strategies and not "moral judgment" or "wishful thinking" should be the foundation for HIV/AIDS education aimed at young people. In addition, Hamburg gained praise for a needle-exchange program for injection drug users that aimed to curb the spread of HIV.

Hamburg also served as assistant HHS secretary during the Clinton administration and currently works at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. She also serves on the board of medical equipment wholesaler Henry Schein Inc. The Journal reports that the administration "wants to position the FDA commissioner as someone who will lead the agency back to its core mission of public health" (Mundy, Wall Street Journal, 3/11).

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