Bush has driven leaderless FDA into the ground with religious ideology

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: The FDA Awaits a Cure for Its Malaise
Problems pile up in the absence of a permanent chief and political disputes over ideology.
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Times Staff Writer
April 30, 2006

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has been without a permanent leader for more than two-thirds of President Bush's tenure, and major unresolved problems are piling up at the federal agency in a time of huge medical and scientific change.

With the FDA stuck in the bureaucratic equivalent of slow gear, critics as well as supporters — in a rare point of agreement — say the agency is in danger of losing its standing in setting regulatory policy in the rapidly evolving medical and scientific fields.

At the heart of the continuing stalemate over Senate confirmation of a permanent FDA commissioner is the unresolved question of what role religion and ideology should play in making science policy.

Many experts think the impasse could continue for the rest of Bush's term.

The last permanent FDA commissioner, Lester M. Crawford, was confirmed in 2005 then quit unexpectedly after two months. The current nominee, acting chief Andrew C. von Eschenbach, a cancer specialist with ties to the Bush family, may never get a vote in the Senate....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fda30apr30,0,179626.story?coll=la-home-headlines