One of the first things Margaret (Peggy) Hamburg says she will do if confirmed as FDA commissioner is review the agency's recent work on the H1N1 flu situation, according to testimony she is delivering today at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
FDA has worked throughout the crisis to begin developing a vaccine for the virus and accelerate approval of diagnostic tests to detect H1N1. Hamburg led development of a flu pandemic preparedness plan when she served as the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at HHS during the Clinton administration. Now vice president for biological programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Hamburg said she plans to determine whether FDA could be doing more.
Her next priorities, Hamburg planned to tell senators, will be to improve food safety, increase monitoring of medical products, foster innovation and boost FDA's credibility to eliminate the perception that it is too close to industries it regulates.
"As FDA commissioner I would strive to lead an agency that appropriately balances innovation with regulation," Hamburg pledges in her prepared testimony.
Continue reading FDA Nominee Promises Review Of Flu Response.
By MEGAN SCULLY
President Obama on Saturday nominated Margaret Hamburg, former New York City health commissioner, to head the FDA, and announced he is taking new measures to address food safety.
During his weekly radio address, Obama said a lack of funds and staff at FDA in recent years have left the agency with only enough resources to inspect just 7,000 of 150,000 food processing plants and warehouses annually.
"That means roughly 95 percent of them go uninspected," Obama said. "That is a hazard to public health. It is unacceptable."
Obama said he will request $1 billion to strengthen the food safety system and modernize labs. A portion of that funding will go toward increasing the number of food inspectors, he said.
Besides nominating Hamburg, whose selection had been leaked earlier this week, Obama named Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner, as FDA's principal deputy commissioner, the agency's second in command.
Both Hamburg and Sharfstein are Harvard Medical School graduates, with Hamburg widely regarded as an expert in food safety, infectious diseases and bio-terrorism. Sharfstein is a former aide to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on health issues. He also evaluated the FDA for the Obama transition team and had been a candidate for FDA commissioner. While Hamburg's nomination will require Senate confirmation, Sharfstein will be able to start work immediately.
In his radio address, Obama also announced the creation of a Food Safety Working Group.
"This working group will bring together cabinet secretaries and senior officials to advise me on how we can upgrade our food safety laws for the 21st century, foster coordination throughout government, and ensure that we are not just designing laws that will keep the American people safe, but enforcing them," he said.
