Wall Street biotech insider gets No. 2 job at the FDA
Looks like the Seattle Times wants to make sure their researcher-investor “matchmaking” story stays on the top stories list for a while longer. Here they’ve decided to look at FDA’s Scott Gottlieb and his ties to the investment industry and to Gerson Lehrman in particular. I wasn’t aware of Scott’s GLG ties but not surprised. One has to wonder: what was FDA thinking when they appointed a 33 year-old former investment banker and biotech-investment newsletter writer, who has little formal healthcare policy training, into such an important, attention-grabbing position at FDA? I didn’t understand it when I first heard it, and now that this story is out, many others will undoubtedly be asking the same question. No offense, Scott; I’m sure you are a really smart, thoughtful, and charismatic sort. But you can’t expect to make a jump like that and get away with it without a lot of people noticing and questioning it. Will he be asked to resign? Probably not. Should he resign? Yes. In the current climate appearances of conflict are nearly as important as conflict itself and should be eliminated whenever practical. It sucks, but that’s the reality. Scott’s been at FDA for a short enough time that FDA can nip this problem in the bud before it gets out of hand. I also think that Lester Crawford, the FDA Commissioner who appointed Scott, should be asked to resign for showing such poor judgment. But that probably won’t happen either.
