WASHINGTON — Some of the nation’s most influential doctors and public health groups are orchestrating a mad-dash effort to convince senators to confirm Robert Califf, President Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration.
Advocacy groups like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Friends of Cancer Research are calling lawmakers and their staff. The American Heart Association is organizing an activist call-in campaign. Even celebrity doctors and Califf’s former colleagues at Duke University are phoning Capitol Hill.
“We need somebody quickly to be FDA commissioner. So I and many others are doing all we can behind the scenes to push leadership in the Congress and Senate to try to make this happen and make them understand the big picture,” said David Agus, a prominent Los Angeles doctor and TV commentator who leads the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of the University of Southern California. Agus called the lack of a permanent FDA commissioner 13 months into the Covid-19 pandemic “tragic.”
This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers
Unlock this article — plus daily intelligence on Capitol Hill and the life sciences industry — by subscribing to STAT+.
Already have an account? Log in
To submit a correction request, please visit our Contact Us page.
