Gottlieb to head U.S. FDA

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a physician and conservative health policy expert, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If confirmed by the Senate, Gottlieb would be charged with implementing Trump’s plan to dramatically cut regulations governing food, drugs, cosmetics, dietary supplements and tobacco.

A resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank and a partner at a large venture capital fund, Gottlieb is a former FDA deputy commissioner who has frequently advocated a loosening of requirements needed for approval of new medical products.

Gottlieb’s could be a boom for manufacturers of electronic nicotine delivery systems such as e-cigarettes. The American Enterprise Institute has consistently argued that there is no evidence showing the risk of vaping is any where near as dangerous as smoking.