Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is stepping down after nearly two years leading the agency's response to a host of public health challenges, including the opioid epidemic, rising drug prices and underage vaping.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Gottlieb's planned resignation in a statement Tuesday.
President Donald Trump tapped Gottlieb in 2017 to "cut red tape" at the FDA.
Gottlieb bucked expectations by pushing the agency to expand its authorities in several key ways, including an unprecedented effort to make cigarettes less addictive by requiring lower nicotine levels.
More recently, Gottlieb has been criticized for not acting sooner to address an explosion in teenage use of e-cigarettes.
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A note from FDA Commissioner @SGottliebFDA to the @US_FDA team… pic.twitter.com/K6iBKhZS5P
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) March 5, 2019
Scott Gottlieb, who has done an absolutely terrific job as Commissioner of the FDA, plans to leave government service sometime next month....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2019
....Scott has helped us to lower drug prices, get a record number of generic drugs approved and onto the market, and so many other things. He and his talents will be greatly missed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2019
