FDA nominee von Eschenbach on HPV vaccines

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, recently nominated to serve as director of the Food and Drug Administration, delivered the keynote address at the national conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists yesterday in Houston. Von Eschenbach is currently the acting director of the FDA (following Lester Crawford's abrupt resignation last September) as well as director of the National Cancer Institute.

As the Houston Chronicle reports, von Eschenbach declined to offer specifics of his vision for the FDA because of his pending confirmation hearing in the Senate. (The FDA has generated considerable criticism and controversy due to its handling of the contraceptive Plan B, which will almost certainly receive more attention from the Senate than anything vaccine-related).

Von Eschenbach did respond (generally) to questions regarding the status of HPV vaccines as well as the broader topic of the Bush administration's positions on science. On HPV vaccines...

"Von Eschenbach...would not talk about where the vaccine is headed in the approval process. But he hailed its 'great promise for the prevention of one of the most significant killers of women' and said it 'fits very well' into his anti-cancer agenda."

On science vs. ideology:

"Asked about the criticism that the Bush administration makes health care policy based on ideology rather than science, von Eschenbach said medical progress can't be removed from 'an ongoing societal discussion.' But he added that he has never felt constrained by the administration from following the scientific path."