Then I am very sorry, Merc. Really. Let us hope that he realises it and names a better candidate soon.
Thank you for your story ! Peace and best wishes. Xi On Mar 13, 1:26 am, Mercury <[email protected]> wrote: > I know more about the FDA than anyone on these boards, WHY? > > Because..... a good friend on mine was a investigator for the FDA for > many years before becoming a whistle blower. I met him many years ago > at a vaccine conference. We exchanged many hours of phone > conversations and emails, I told him everything I knew about certain > things that I had investigated, He offered me a job with his company > as a medical researcher. I turned him down as I felt my passion was > strictly devoted to my sons cause. He taught me the ins and outs of > the FDA. > > This was the worst choice Obama has made. > > On Mar 11, 7:02 pm, xi <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > >http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9JzAjf56lxM&refe... > > > March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Margaret A. Hamburg, a former New York City > > health commissioner, is President Barack Obama’s pick to run the U.S. > > Food and Drug Administration, a person familiar with the decision > > said. > > > Joshua Sharfstein, commissioner of the Baltimore city health > > department since 2005, is expected to be named as deputy FDA > > commissioner, another person said. > > > If confirmed, Hamburg, a physician and bioterrorism expert, would take > > the helm after a salmonella outbreak traced to peanut products led to > > nine deaths and sickened more than 660 people, and a year after > > recalls of a blood thinner with a sometimes deadly ingredient traced > > to China. Obama last month promised a full review of the agency, which > > regulates products that account for $1 trillion in consumer spending > > and range from lipstick to heart stents. > > > “The FDA, as the nation’s largest regulatory agency, is on the hot > > seat to better protect Americans from a wide range of health risks,” > > said Shelley Hearne, managing director of the Pew Health & Human > > Services Policy Program, in Washington, in an e- mail before today. > > “Americans will be able to better trust the safety of their foods and > > pharmaceuticals knowing that what they eat and what they’re prescribed > > should be safer under Peggy Hamburg’s watch.” > > > Public Health, Neuroscience > > > Hamburg, 53, would go to the FDA with a background in neuroscience, > > drug research and public health. As New York City’s health > > commissioner from 1991 to 1997, she gained experience running a large > > bureaucracy. Hamburg also has worked within the federal health > > bureaucracy, researching AIDS at the National Institutes of Health and > > later as an assistant secretary at the Health and Human Services > > Department, where her responsibilities included strategic planning and > > the development and review of regulations. > > > The choices were reported earlier by the New York Times. > > > Hamburg sits on the board of Henry Schein Inc., a Melville, New York, > > distributor of medical products and services, including software. > > > Sharfstein, 39, has served as commissioner of the Baltimore city > > health department since 2005, managing a $150 million budget and about > > 800 employees. He 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. > > > Critic of Gifts > > > Sharfstein has also criticized drugmakers over distributing gifts to > > doctors. In his first year at Harvard Medical School in 1992, he > > organized a drive for his fellow students to return textbooks paid for > > by Novartis AG’s generic-drug unit Sandoz. He also wrote a letter to > > the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine in 1997 complaining > > about Pfizer Inc. sponsoring a beer and billiards night for doctors in > > Boston. > > > Hamburg comes from a family steeped in medicine and research. Her > > mother, Beatrix, was the first black woman to attend Vassar College > > and the first to earn a medical degree at Yale University, according > > to the National Library of Medicine. Her father, David, also a > > physician, headed the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the non-profit > > National Academies of Science that offers science-based advice on > > health issues, from 1975 to 1980. > > > Agency Budget, Failures > > > Hamburg would take over an agency with an annual budget of almost $2 > > billion. Many lawmakers, including Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut > > Democrat who chairs an FDA appropriations subcommittee, say the agency > > badly needs more funding. On Feb. 26, Obama proposed increasing the > > FDA budget for food safety to $1 billion, from $662 million in George > > W. Bush’s request for 2009. > > > In recent years, the FDA failed to catch Chinese contamination of the > > blood thinner heparin, endured controversy over a politically driven > > delay in approving the over-the-counter contraceptive Plan B, and > > withdrew the painkiller Vioxx in 2004 after it was linked to heart > > attacks. > > > The agency’s food safety-net has also been unable to stop or swiftly > > track food-poisoning outbreaks involving tainted spinach, jalapeno > > peppers and currently, peanut products. > > > Regulating Tobacco > > > Even as the 11,000-strong agency struggles with its current load, > > Congress is considering giving the FDA the power to regulate tobacco > > as well. > > > Critics such as Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts > > Democrat, have questioned the agency’s stance on use of the suspected > > toxin bisphenol A in baby bottles, cans and other products. Some > > studies have linked BPA to childhood diabetes and developmental > > changes. While the chemical’s use in plastic is sharply limited in > > Canada and Europe, the FDA continues to declare it safe at current > > exposure levels. > > > Hamburg received her bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College, now > > part of Harvard University, in 1978 and her medical degree from > > Harvard in 1983. She finished her training at the New York > > Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. > > > She later conducted research in neuroscience at Rockefeller University > > in New York, then studied neuropharmacology, which examines the effect > > of drugs on the nervous system, at the National Institute of Mental > > Health in Bethesda, Maryland. > > > Hamburg as Health Commissioner > > > Hamburg worked in the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health > > Promotion from 1986 to 1988, then moved to the National Institute of > > Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, > > where she focused on AIDS research. > > > As New York City health commissioner from 1991 to 1997, Hamburg > > designed a tuberculosis control program that reduced New York’s 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 developed initiatives that raised childhood immunization rates to > > record levels, and 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. > > > Hamburg also gave birth to her two children while in New York City and > > had her name noted twice on their birth certificates: once as their > > mother, and once as the city’s health commissioner. > > > In 1993, while expecting her first child, Hamburg turned down an > > opportunity to serve as President Bill Clinton’s first federal AIDS > > coordinator. Four years later, she accepted Clinton’s offer to be > > assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Health and > > Human Services Department, where she served as principal adviser to > > then-Secretary Donna Shalala. > > > In 2001, she joined the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based > > group focused on reducing the public safety threat from chemical, > > biological and nuclear weapons.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
