WASHINGTON — President Trump’s domestic policy chief on Friday suggested the regulation of tobacco and vape products — a critical function of the Food and Drug Administration — was a distraction and should be handled by another agency.
The remarks from Joe Grogan, the director of Trump’s Domestic Policy Council, came at a careening news conference at which he also slammed House Democrats’ marquee drug pricing bill and implied Medicaid expansions under President Barack Obama have furthered the opioid crisis.
Grogan’s comments on tobacco come as the administration has wavered on its attempts to ban some flavored vape products. They also follow two years in which Scott Gottlieb, Trump’s former FDA commissioner, made tobacco and nicotine product regulation a focus of his tenure at the agency.
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Since tobacco contains the drug nicotine, which has proven addiction potential, why should the FDA NOT regulate tobacco/nicotine-containing products? Doesn’t the letter D in FDA stand for the word drug? If Grogan hates tobacco issues, he should resign his position.
Grogan is bluntly dead-wrong in several aspects. Tobacco use causes serious, proven health disasters, and as the FDA regulates towards health merits, it IS in their realm to address tobacco use reduction / elimination. This guy’s plan to just milk a neighbouring country’s drug supplies totally disrespects the hard-fought for and lobbyist-free deals with drug suppliers accommplished by taxpayers moneys in that country. The lame “oh well” response to that country’s expressed concerns about ending up short-supplied is despicable. Ditch pharma lobbying in the US, and prices will drop. This guy needs to be kicked out swiftly, with background checks for tobacco company funding.
he could as well walk around with stamped on his forehead
“property of tobacco and pharma lobbies”
Did Mr Rogan give any sign that he was aware that Congress legislated this mission for the FDA? The agency did not volunteer for this mission, nor was it just another Executive Order from the prior administration.