FDA nominee gets warm reception on Hill
Mark McClellan, White House health policy adviser, appears to be on a fast track to confirmation as the next Food and Drug Administration commissioner, following the endorsement of Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., at a confirmation hearing Monday.
"I intend to support your nomination," Kennedy said to McClellan, after receiving assurances that McClellan would work with the committee on issues ranging from drug advertising to food label warnings and enforcing a rule on testing drugs in children.
McClellan, a physician and economist, said he intends to ensure that public information FDA-regulated products are "truthful and nonmisleading" and that product safety and speedy reviews do not conflict.
He also said he had no immediate plans to review whether FDA has authority to regulate tobacco products, and supports administrative and legislative efforts to ensure needy pregnant women have health coverage.
The committee is expected to vote Wednesday on the nomination and send it to the floor for full Senate consideration.
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