Senate committee advances NIH, FDA leaders' nominations

Key takeaways:

• The Senate HELP committee advanced the Trump administration’s nominations to lead the NIH and FDA.
• Last week, both nominees fielded questions on key issues, including vaccines and government transparency.

The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted to advance the nominations of probable new NIH and FDA leaders to the full senate.

In last week’s hearings, committee members questioned Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, who was nominated to be NIH director, and Martin Makary, MD, MPH, who was nominated to be the next FDA commissioner.

In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, MD, a Republican from Louisiana, supported the selections and cited the recent measles outbreak as evidence that “the American people's trust in public health institutions must be restored.” Rebuilding that trust requires leadership within the public health service “committed to transparency and finding unbiased solutions to Americans’ most challenging health problems,” Cassidy said.

“Dr. Bhattacharya and Dr. Makary have demonstrated that they are ready to take on this responsibility,” he added. “In collaboration with other administration officials, [they] have the experience and the vision to achieve President Trump’s objective of making America healthy again.”

Ranking Committee Member Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, dissented in his opening statement and focused on lowering the cost of health care in the U.S. Advances in new treatments that come from government health entities “don’t do any good if people cannot afford them,” he said.

“In my view, we need an NIH director who is prepared to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and use every tool at his or her disposal to substantially lower the outrageous prices of prescription drugs. Unfortunately, I do not believe that President Trump’s nominee to lead the NIH is that person,” Sanders said. “According to the FDA website, its mission is to make medical products more effective, safer and more affordable. And today in America, tens of millions of people cannot afford those treatments.”

The vote for Bhattacharya passed with 12 ayes and 11 nays, strictly along party lines, and the vote for Makary passed with 14 ayes and nine nays. Senators Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, and John Hickenlooper, a Democrat from Colorado, joined the Republicans.

Check out Healio’s previous coverage to learn more about the new health leaders’ positions on key issues:

• Healio previously reported that Bhattacharya, who is also a Stanford University professor of health policy, was questioned on government transparency, NIH cuts to biomedical research and the safety of vaccines. An expert said that he seemed to straddle both sides of the fence on a major issue — whether vaccines cause autism — which indicated “a major lack of integrity.”
• Healio also previously reported that Makary, a surgeon and public policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University, responded to questions on transparency, his plans for mifepristone and the recently cancelled Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting. Another expert said that Makary’s answers offered some hope, as he seemed “well-qualified and insisted on being guided by the science and in listening to experienced FDA staff.”