U.S. Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said this week he placed a hold on President Barack Obama's nomination for commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Reuters report.
Here are six things to know about the issue.
1. Last year, President Obama nominated Robert Califf, MD, a prominent cardiologist and medical researcher, as the next commissioner of the FDA.
2. But Sen. Markey said he placed a hold on the nomination until the FDA agrees to reform its process for approving opioid painkillers, according to the report.
3. Specifically, the senator wants an FDA advisory committee to look over opioid-approval matters and believes the committee should consider the risk of addiction and abuse while they are considering approval, according to the report. He also wants the agency to repeal approval of OxyContin for children and put together an advisory panel to guide that process, the report notes.
4. Dr. Califf's nomination is widely expected to be approved by the Senate later in 2016.
5. However, critics contend his ties to the pharmaceutical industry are too close, according to Reuters. Dr. Califf joined the FDA as deputy commissioner in 2015 from Durham, N.C.-based Duke University, where he had served as a professor of medicine, a leading pharmaceutical researcher and the vice chancellor for clinical and translational research.
6. Meanwhile, a spokesman for HHS, said it had made addressing the opioid crisis "a top priority," according to Reuters. "Work at FDA and across HHS will continue on this important effort," spokesman Kevin Griffis said in a statement, according to the report. "HHS will be in touch directly with the senator regarding his concern."
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