WASHINGTON – Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Lester Crawford abruptly resigned Friday, telling his staff that at age 67, it was time to step aside.
President Bush designated the National Cancer Institute’s director, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, to be the FDA’s new acting commissioner.
Crawford’s resignation came just two months after the Senate, in a long-delayed move, elevated the longtime agency deputy and acting commissioner to the top job.
His three-year tenure at FDA was marked by increasing criticism and a particularly rocky final 12 months. The painkiller Vioxx was pulled off the market for safety problems, the FDA was embarrassed last fall when its British counterparts shut down a supplier of U.S. flu vaccine for tainted shots, and over the summer, recalls of malfunctioning heart devices mounted.
Finally last month, morale at the agency plummeted when Crawford indefinitely postponed nonprescription sales of emergency contraception over the objections of staff scientists who had declared the pill safe. The FDA’s women’s health chief resigned in protest.
Still, Crawford’s resignation, effective immediately, was a surprise. A veterinarian who specialized in food safety, he was elevated by President Bush to commissioner in part because his experience was deemed important as the FDA tried to safeguard the food supply against bioterrorism.
Critics welcomed Crawford’s departure.
“Dr. Crawford’s ability to lead a strong and independent FDA was in question from the start,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “Unfortunately, during his tenure the FDA’s reputation as the gold standard in public health has been tarnished.”
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