Senate Panel Approves Califf Nomination for FDA Chief


A key Senate committee on Thursday called Dr. He suggested that Robert Califf be nominated to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration to the full Senate.

The committee’s 13 to 8 votes voted MPs to Dr. It shows that he has ongoing concerns about Califf. Among those who oppose his candidacy are several Democrats and Dr. Califf’s

financial ties to pharmaceutical companies. No date has been set for the Senate’s confirmation vote.

If approved, Dr. Califf will oversee an agency that has studied the pandemic extensively as it weighs the safety of coronavirus vaccines and treatments and reviews dozens of masks and tests.

Recently, the agency has been criticized by those who claim it is responsible for the slow approval of home rapid tests, as the Omicron variant is causing a sharp increase in infections and increasing consumer demand for tests for schoolchildren. and workers. The agency said it had concerns about the issue. sensitivity of tests However not general precision.

High-risk patients who test positive for Covid-19 are also at risk serious famines The number of drugs that are effective against the variant, even if the institution remains the gatekeeper for therapies and diagnoses that may help.

On December 14, Dr. Califf appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Work and Pensions Committee in mid-December, answer questions about the pandemic, the opioid crisis, and more.

As a cardiologist, Dr. He led clinical trials for decades at Duke University Medical Center in Califf, North Carolina. Most recently, he led clinical policy and strategy for Verily, Google’s life sciences arm. During the trial, she highlighted the value of available data in patients’ electronic medical records to help answer tough questions about the evidence of drugs and devices.

Republicans have asked how it will address rules on drugs to promote abortion, which has been relaxed during the pandemic after years of tight restrictions. Two days after the hearing, interim Commissioner Dr. The FDA, led by Janet Woodcock, has announced that it will be implemented permanently. removal restrictionsallows patients to terminate pregnancy within the first 10 weeks after a telemedicine visit with home remedies.

Dr. Califf was previously approved in an 89 to 4 Senate vote to lead the FDA in the final year of the Obama administration. If approved again, it will face key decisions regarding tobacco control as it tries to balance e-cigarettes as a tool to help some quit without creating a new generation of users. Increased scrutiny on accelerated approvals of drugs current discussion on the agency’s approval of the controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm.

Some senators, Dr. They have already expressed their opposition to Califf’s candidacy. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Dr. He voted against Califf. At the hearing in December, Dr. Califf’s vineyards including major pharmaceutical companies consulting fees and stock ownership of up to $8 million. “This is exactly the close relationship Big Pharma uses to regulate the FDA rather than regulate it,” Senator Sanders said.

The candidate told the Senate panel that he had strict ethical guidelines that the FDA and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, agreed to abide by.

Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire also attended Dr. He voted against Califf’s nomination. In December, he pressured the FDA not to update the labels of opioid drugs. Dr. Califf said the agency will continue to review incoming evidence.

Senator Hassan said he thought the problem had been resolved: “The evidence has been here for a long time,” he said. “Proof that thousands, hundreds of thousands of people died in this country.”



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