FDA External Relations Head Pitts Will Leave Agency June 18
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
Associate Commissioner for External Relations Peter Pitts will join the public relations firm Manning, Selvage & Lee as VP-health affairs. During his 14-month tenure at FDA, the agency adopted a more aggressive communications approach.
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FDA Associate Commissioner for External Relations Peter Pitts is leaving after 14 months at the agency to join the public relations firm Manning, Selvage & Lee. Pitts' last day at FDA will be June 18. On June 21, he will assume the newly created position of VP-health affairs at New York-based MS&L, working out of a Washington, D.C., office until he relocates. MS&L is part of the Publicis Groupe. Its health care practice specializes in "health policy, direct to consumer, medical education, third-party alliance and strategic communications around key pharmaceutical benchmarks, including medical meetings, advisory committee hearings, product approvals and launches," the firm's website says. MS&L's clients include Amgen, Aventis, Chiron, Eli Lilly, Fujisawa, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, J&J, Novartis, Pfizer, P&G and Schering-Plough. Pitts will have three broad roles at the firm. He will counsel pharmaceutical, biotech and food companies on communications issues and will serve as a thought leader on regulatory issues concerning health, wellness and food products. In addition, he will be involved in efforts to educate consumers through wellness and disease education programs. At FDA, Pitts frequently pointed to the importance of disease awareness advertising in boosting public health. In February, the agency released three direct-to-consumer advertising guidances, one of which focused on "help-seeking" and disease awareness ads (1 (Also see "Disease Awareness Ads Must Be Different, Distant From Branded Ads, FDA Says" - Pink Sheet, 4 Feb, 2004.)). One of the guidance's aims was to encourage more disease awareness advertising on television and in print because such ads are "under-used" and "in the best interest of public health," Pitts said during a speech in January. Pitts joined FDA in April 2003 from the Indianapolis-based public relations firm Wired World. He was hired by then-FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan to direct the agency's communications functions and to help implement FDA's five-point strategic plan, one element of which is providing better information to consumers. In connection with the strategic plan and the DTC guidances, Pitts has characterized FDA's mission as evolving. One of Pitts' "most important contributions was to enhance our mission from "protecting' to 'protecting and advancing' America's health," FDA Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford, PhD, said in a June 2 announcement about Pitts' departure. During Pitts' tenure, the agency adopted a more aggressive communications approach in reaching out to the general public and media. "While Peter has been with the agency for a relatively short period, his innovative and aggressive outreach programs and unique style have helped elevate the FDA communications efforts to new levels," Crawford said. Pitts represents the fifth high-level FDA staffer to leave the agency since McClellan departed to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2 (Also see "FDA Brain Drain? Four Agency Staffers Join McClellan At CMS" - Pink Sheet, 7 May, 2004.)) An agency announcement about who will be taking over Pitts' duties is expected shortly. - Sue Sutter |