As FDA Reorganizes, Office Of Chief Counsel Becomes Less Political
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Along with the creation of "directorate" level offices at the commissioner level, FDA also is making a significant change to the chief counsel position following the departure of Ralph Tyler on Aug. 5. HHS Acting General Counsel William Schultz and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg sent a July 12 email to attorneys and staff in the Office of the Chief Counsel stating their intention to convert the position from a political appointment to a career position and to fill it on a permanent basis. "At various times the FDA Chief Counsel position has been a political position and at other times it has been a career position in the HHS Office of the General Counsel," they wrote. "In fact, at the present time it is the only Associate General Counsel or Chief Counsel position in the OGC that is political." The conversion of the post to career would also allow HHS to designate another post in the department a political position. Schultz and Hamburg said they plan to make a chief counsel appointment expeditiously. In the meantime, FDA senior counsel Elizabeth Dickinson has been named to the post on an interim basis (Also see "FDA's Elizabeth Dickinson Is Named Acting Chief Counsel" - Pink Sheet, 12 Jul, 2011.). Peter Barton Hutt, who served as FDA Chief Counsel from 1971 to 1975, said their email sends a message that those within the agency will receive greater consideration. He noted that only one previous chief counsel, Tom Scarlett, worked at FDA before taking the chief counsel job. Hutt, senior counsel at Covington & Burling, said there are a number of good candidates both outside and inside the agency. Among the names he has heard mentioned are David Horowitz, Dickinson and FDA Acting Deputy Chief Counsel Mark Raza. Horowitz, one of Schultz's deputy chief counsel, previously served as assistant commissioner for policy and had a stint in the Office of the Chief Counsel. Within the agency, Hutt said Dickinson and Acting Deputy Chief Counsel Mark Raza are highly regarded and very well-liked. "It's a completely wide open ball game and a lot of wonderful people that can be chosen," Hutt said. "It's a shame they just have to choose one." |