Commissioner of Food and Drugs
The United States Commissioner of Food and Drugs is the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The commissioner is appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. The commissioner reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
United States Commissioner of Food and Drugs | |
---|---|
Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration | |
Reports to | Secretary of Health and Human Services |
Term length | No fixed term |
Due to frequent controversies involving the FDA, appointments are not always prompt and the agency is often headed by an acting commissioner. For example, Andrew von Eschenbach's appointment was held up by senators who objected to the FDA's refusal to allow emergency contraception to be sold over the counter.
The commissioner has frequently been a physician, but this is not a requirement for the post.
On November 5, 2019, President Trump nominated Stephen Hahn to be the next permanent Commissioner.[1][2] Dr. Hahn was sworn in on December 17, 2019.[3]
List of Commissioners
No. | Name | Portrait | Took Office | Left Office | President served under | Notable for |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Harvey Washington Wiley, MD | January 1, 1907 | March 15, 1912 | Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft | Chemist; advocacy of the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906; subsequent work at Good Housekeeping Institute laboratories | |
2 | Carl L. Alsberg MD | December 16, 1912 | July 15, 1921 | William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding | ||
3 | Walter G. Campbell | July 16, 1921 | June 30, 1924 | Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge | ||
4 | Charles Albert Browne Jr. PhD | July 1, 1924 | June 30, 1927 | Calvin Coolidge | ||
3[4] | Walter G. Campbell | July 1, 1927 | April 30, 1944 | Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||
5 | Paul B. Dunbar, PhD | May 6, 1944 | May 31, 1951 | Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman | ||
6 | Charles W. Crawford | June 1, 1951 | July 31, 1954 | Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower | ||
7 | George P. Larrick | August 12, 1954 | December 27, 1965 | Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
8 | James L. Goddard, MD | January 17, 1966 | July 1, 1968 | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
9 | Herbert L. Ley Jr., MD | July 1, 1968 | December 12, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon | ||
10 | Charles C. Edwards, MD | December 13, 1969 | March 15, 1973 | Richard Nixon | ||
11 | Alexander M. Schmidt, MD | July 20, 1973 | November 30, 1976 | Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford | ||
12 | Donald Kennedy, PhD | April 4, 1977 | June 30, 1979 | Jimmy Carter | ||
13 | Jere E. Goyan, PhD | October 21, 1979 | January 20, 1981 | Jimmy Carter | ||
14 | Arthur H. Hayes Jr., MD | April 13, 1981 | September 11, 1983 | Ronald Reagan | ||
15 | Frank E. Young, MD, PhD | July 15, 1984 | December 17, 1989 | Ronald Reagan | ||
16 | David A. Kessler, MD | November 8, 1990 | February 28, 1997 | George H. W. Bush | ||
17 | Jane E. Henney, MD | January 17, 1999 | January 19, 2001 | Bill Clinton | ||
18 | Mark McClellan, MD, Ph.D | November 14, 2002 | March 26, 2004 | George W. Bush | ||
19 | Lester Crawford, D.V.M., PhD | July 18, 2005 | September 23, 2005 | George W. Bush | Charged with conflict of interest and lying about stock he and his wife owned in companies regulated by FDA.[5] | |
20 | Andrew von Eschenbach, MD | December 13, 2006 | January 20, 2009 | George W. Bush | Member of the board of directors of BioTime, a biotechnology and regenerative medicine company. | |
21 | Margaret Hamburg, MD | May 22, 2009 | April 1, 2015 | Barack Obama | ||
– | Stephen Ostroff, MD[6] | April 1, 2015 | February 22, 2016 | Barack Obama | ||
22 | Robert Califf, MD | February 22, 2016 | January 20, 2017 | Barack Obama | ||
– | Stephen Ostroff, MD[6] | January 20, 2017 | May 11, 2017 | Donald Trump | ||
23 | Scott Gottlieb, MD | May 11, 2017 | April 5, 2019 | Donald Trump | ||
– | Norman Sharpless, MD | April 5, 2019 | November 1, 2019 | Donald Trump | ||
– | ADM Brett Giroir, MD | November 6, 2019[7][1] | December 17, 2019 | Donald Trump | ||
24 | Stephen Hahn, MD | December 17, 2019 | Present | Donald Trump |
See also
References
- McGinley, Laurie (2019-11-01). "Trump announces plan to nominate Texas cancer doctor to run FDA". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
- "One Nomination Sent to the Senate". The White House. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- Wang, Beth (December 17, 2019). "Hahn Officially Sworn In As FDA Chief On Dec. 17, Vows To Uphold Sound Data". InsideHealthPolicy.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- Campbell had previously served as Commissioner
- "Former F.D.A. Chief Is Charged With Conflict". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 Mar 2014.
- "Meet Stephen Ostroff, MD, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine". U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ADM Brett P. Giroir, MD