Scott Gottlieb's industry ties are likely to be a focus of his April 5 Senate confirmation hearing to be US FDA commissioner, but they seem unlikely derail his confirmation, and even the recusals he'll take once he joins the agency probably won't have much of an impact on his activities. However, the perception of potential bias could create a public relations problem, especially if widespread belief that FDA is unduly relaxing its regulatory requirements surfaces.
In interviews with the Pink Sheet, several former senior FDA officials said that in practice, Gottlieb likely will rarely run...
