Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: A Doctor To Treat The FDA's Issues; Confronting The Nation's Drug Problem
Scott Gottlieb may have landed the toughest job in Washington: President Trump has selected the physician and policy expert to run the Food and Drug Administration, where a culture of control strangles innovation. An iron triangle of interest groups, the bureaucracy and the press will resist change, but Dr. Gottlieb could save lives by renovating FDA鈥檚 drug-approval processes. (3/12)
Government traditionally works in silos. An agency is created to address a very specific problem, and is given finite resources dedicated specifically to that problem. So we have agencies that deal with mental health. And agencies that deal with drug addiction. And agencies that deal with the rehabilitation of criminals. And some that deal with poverty or health care or affordable housing. (3/13)
One of the high points in President Donald Trump鈥檚 speech to a joint session of Congress last week was his pledge to unleash a new era of drug development so grand that 鈥渙ur children will grow up in a nation of miracles.鈥 Yet his main strategy for doing so -- slashing Food and Drug Administration regulations -- won鈥檛 solve one of the most pressing health challenges facing the country, and the world. (Bryan Walsh, 3/10)