Report: Obama to replace heads of FDA, CDC

WASHINGTON President-elect Barack Obama’s administration will move quickly to replace the current leaders of two key agencies within the Deptartment of Health and Human Services, according to a report in Monday’s Wall Street Journal.

Confirmation from HHS and Obama transition team officials was not immediately available, but the newspaper is reporting that Dr. Frank Torti, the current top scientist at the Food and Drug Administration, will serve as acting director of the FDA while the Obama administration conducts a search for a new agency head following the resignation of FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach.

Torti was chief of cancer research at Wake Forest University until his appointment to the FDA last spring.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control, Julie Gerberding, is also headed for the door following the inauguration of the new president next week, according to the Journal.

Gerberding’s temporary replacement, according to the report, will be William Gimson III, chief operating officer of the CDC.

In a separate report, eFluxMedia called the FDA leadership post “a tough, highly politicized job that requires balancing the demands of Congress, the drug industry, patient advocacy groups and consumer watchdogs.”

Meanwhile, former Democratic Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota appears headed for confirmation as HHS secretary following his appearance last week before a Senate panel.