FDA Nominee Supports Tobacco Regulation

Hamburg "very comfortable" with oversight, given additional staff, funds May 11, 2009

WASHINGTON-- Margaret Hamburg, President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Food & Drug Administration, said she supports efforts that would require the FDA to regulate tobacco, according to a Dow Jones report. "If done successfully, we can reduce smoking and we can make cigarettes less harmful," she told a U.S. Senate panel last Thursday.

In comments to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, Hamburg said she believed the FDA is the right agency to regulate tobacco. She said as long as the agency is given additional staff and money to regulate [image-nocss] tobacco products as called for in a House bill, she would be "very comfortable moving forward" with such plans.

Last month the House approved a bill that would give the FDA power to regulate tobacco, but the legislation faces opposition in the Senate from some lawmakers in tobacco-producing states. (Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage.)

The Senate panel held a confirmation hearing on Hamburg. Hamburg, who's widely credited for turning around New York City's health department in the 1990s, said she would "restore the integrity of science-based decision making" at FDA and allow scientists to express various viewpoints.

Hamburg, 54, was one of the youngest New York City health commissioners. She was an assistant secretary of Health & Human Services during the Clinton administration and now works at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a think tank run by former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn. She also serves on the board of Henry Schein Inc., a medical-equipment wholesaler.

In response, ranking Republican Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) expressed concern about the bill to require FDA to regulate tobacco, which the committee plans to mark up next week. "FDA approves cures, not poisons. Pending legislation would require FDA to regulate tobacco, a product with no health benefits, but with deadly risks. Wouldn't it send a poor public health message to have an implied FDA seal of approval on a deadly product?"

He added, "FDA resources are already stretched too thin. I have serious concerns about adding tobacco to the list of products the agency must regulate."

To read Hamburg's opening statement, click here. To view video of her testimony, click here.

Click here for Enzi's statement.

Andclick here for chairman Edward Kennedy's statement.

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