Is FDA finally free from politically driven decisions?

Just days after the inauguration, exciting projects that had been frozen for political reasons - even after researchers answered all safety and efficacy questions - are now underway.

One project has the promising goal "to achieve restoration of spinal cord function by the injection of hESC-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells directly into the lesion site of the patient's injured spinal cord."

Freezing this research that would help spine injured patients and their families was not the only significant politically motivated FDA action during the previous administration. For example, Plan B was delayed only to become the first and only over-the-counter product for preventing unwanted pregnancy that had a different standard for sexually active patients based on their age alone.

Susan Wood, the head of the Office of Women's Health protested, and payback was that women's health was de-funded. Wood then resigned.

Then-Commissiner Crawford admitted he had delayed approval of Plan B, a product that proved it prevented high-risk pregnancies and saved patient lives. The criminal investigation of the Commissioner was revealed in 2006, shortly after he had resigned in September 2005. He had been confirmed by the Senate for less than three months as the permanent FDA commissioner, a position which he had held on an “acting” basis for a couple of years. It turned out he invested in companies with applications pending at FDA.