The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates about a quarter of every dollar Americans spend, has a new boss — and he’s already under fire for being too cozy with the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Robert M. Califf, a cardiologist and researcher, was nominated by President Obama in September to become the new commissioner of the agency. His confirmation by the Senate was delayed by lawmakers, many of them Democrats, who worried that his links with the pharmaceutical industry would bias his ability to regulate that business and who voiced disapproval over the FDA’s handling of the opioid abuse crisis in America.
