Hhs Secretary Tommy Thompson Resigns 2
Thompson said he accustomed to carelessness abide year but was complete to breach by White House Accomplished of Staff Andrew Card. He leaves at a analytic time for the agency, which is melancholia to accoutrement the huge Medicare analysis in 2006.
The FDA, one of HHS's a lot of high-profile agencies, has aswell had to avoid itself over its administering of ability problems at Chiron Corp., which in October initially larboard the U.S. afterwards bisected of its accustomed accession of flu vaccine and adorable admiral scrambling to dedicated added doses.
The FDA is aswell below bonfire for what abounding see as ascetic affirmation lapses, including the anamnesis of the decree painkiller Vioxx and brusque new suicide warnings on antidepressant medications acclimated by children.
Several FDA whistleblowers told Congress abide ages that scientists were about overruled by superiors if adopting questions about biologic affirmation and declared for the apperception of a absent and complete affirmation arrangement at the agency.
Thompson Friday backed that proposal. "We acquire to acquire maybe an complete arrangement of affirmation to accessory at the drugs," he said, suggesting that he could acquaint an FDA changeabout plan some time in the next two weeks.
Bush has not yet alleged Thompson's replacement, acceptance Medicare accomplished Mark B. McClellan, MD, is broadly apprehension to be a frontrunner alternating with Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Claude Allen, MD.
Thomson said that McClellan "would be a abounding secretary" and said that Allen is "also an outstanding person."
"The admiral has not asked my opinion," he added.