Senate Confirms Obama's Pick for FDA Chief

By a voice vote on Monday, the Senate confirmed President Obama's choice to head the Food and Drug Administration. When she is sworn in as the agency's 21st commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg will become only the second woman to hold the post in 100 years. She worked as assistant health secretary in the Clinton administration and helped launch the government's bioterrorism and flu pandemic preparations. Her earlier tenure as chief of the New York City health department saw improvements in the rate of childhood vaccinations, a reduction in the number of new HIV cases, and progress against drug-resistant TB. During her confirmation hearing, Hamburg said she wants to restore public confidence in FDA by running the agency in an accountable fashion and by putting science first.

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