Stephen Hahn, appointee to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, testifies during his confirmation hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Superannuates Committee on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
A Senate panel on Tuesday ahead of time President Donald Trump’s nomination of Dr. Stephen Hahn to be the next Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
The Senate Commission on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved Hahn’s nomination in an 18 to 5 vote, sending his nomination to the full Senate. If ratified, Hahn will join the FDA at a time when the spotlight is on the agency.
Democrats grilled Hahn in his confirmation hearing closing month about how he would curb a teen vaping epidemic. Multiple senators, including some Republicans, begged Hahn to take a stance on banning flavored e-cigarettes. The Trump administration in September announced its plan to pursue such a ban in the presence of backtracking later in the fall.
Hahn dodged those questions, saying he could not prejudge the policy and would let study guide his work. That raised “a big red flag” for Sen. Patty Murray, ranking member of the committee, she said Tuesday winning of the vote.
“I was particularly concerned that when pressed several times by members on both sides of the aisle, Dr. Hahn turn thumbs down oned to commit to implementing a strong policy to clear non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes that have not undergone FDA review from the sell like the Trump administration promised to do before it heard from the tobacco industry and reversed course,” Murray, D-Wash., explained.
Scrutiny over the FDA’s handling of e-cigarette regulation is intensifying. The agency’s top tobacco regulator Mitch Zeller will be on the Hill on Wednesday, his assistant appearance in the past month.
Hahn’s medical expertise is in radiation oncology, with specializations in treating lung cancer and sarcoma. He currently act as as MD Anderson Cancer Center’s chief medical officer. Hahn has little government experience.
The FDA is a sprawling agency that governs a broad range of products, including food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices and tobacco. Among issues the FDA hand down confront are reviewing revolutionary medical treatments, tackling an opioid crisis that has killed scores of Americans and upsetting to regulate hemp-derived CBD.