FDA commissioner
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "FDA_commissioner".

In the United States, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs is the head of the Food and Drug Administration. The commissioner reports to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and is a presidential appointment with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Due to frequent controversies involving the FDA, appointments are not always prompt and the agency is often headed by an acting commissioner. For example, the Andrew von Eschenbach's appointment was held up by senators who objected to the FDA's refusal to allow over the counter status to the controversial Plan B emergency contraception.

The commissioner has frequently been a physician, but this is not a requirement for the post.

List of Commissioners

• Andrew von Eschenbach 12/2006 - Present
• Lester Crawford 7/2005 - 9/2005
• Mark McClellan 11/2002 - 3/2004
• Jane E. Henney 1/1999 - 1/2001
• David Aaron Kessler 11/1990 - 2/1997
• Frank Edward Young 7/1984 - 12/1989
• Arthur Hull Hayes 4/1981 - 9/1983
• Jere E. Goyan 10/1979 - 1/1981
• Donald Kennedy 4/1977 - 6/1979
• Alexander M. Schmidt 7/1973 - 10/1976
• Charles C. Edwards 12/1969 - 3/1973
• Herbert L. Ley 7/1968 - 12/1969
• James L. Goddard 1/1966 - 7/1968
• George P. Larrick 8/1954 - 12/1965
• Charles W. Crawford 6/1951 - 7/1954
• Paul P. Dunbar 5/1944 - 5/1951
• Walter G. Campbell 7/1927 - 4/1944 (Second appointment)
• Charles Albert Browne, Jr. 7/1924 - 6/1927
• Walter G. Campbell 7/1921 - 6/1924
• Carl L. Alsberg 12/1912 - 7/1921
• Harvey W. Wiley 1/1907 - 3/1912

See also

• Food and Drug Administration
• Regulation of therapeutic goods

References

• http://www.fda.gov/oc/default.htm
• http://www.fda.gov/oc/commissioners/default.htm