Scott Gottlieb, President Trump's choice to become the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, was confirmed Tuesday by the Senate. The vote was 57 to 42.
Gottlieb, a physician and venture capitalist with long ties to the pharmaceutical industry, served as a deputy FDA commissioner and a high-ranking official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the George W. Bush administration. He assumes the agency's helm as it faces mounting pressure from President Trump and other Republicans to further accelerate its drug-approval process and to take a more aggressive role in combating the nation's opioid epidemic.
