Scott Gottlieb, in line to lead the Food and Drug Administration, speaks during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. During his confirmation hearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Gottlieb described the FDA as “complicit, even if unwittingly,” in helping to fuel the opioid epidemic. Gottlieb, a high-ranking FDA official during the George W. Bush administration, was welcomed warmly by Republicans, who praised his experience in industry, medicine and the government. Much of the hearing — and most of the Democratic senators' questions — focused on Gottlieb's business connections to the drug industry. Read more:Trump to select Scott Gottlieb, a physician with deep drug-industry ties, to run the FDAFour former FDA commissioners denounce drug importation, citing dangers to consumersTrump calls the FDA 'slow and burdensome,' but it's faster than ever

Source: Washington Post April 05, 2017 18:15 UTC