Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1115575
48 POPULATION HEALTH 48 CEO/STRATEGY FDA chief's resignation: 10 industry leaders react By Alia Paavola W ithin minutes of the announce- ment that FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, was stepping down from his post, many people in health- care and policy turned to Twitter to express their opinions on the departure. 10 industry reactions: 1. Eric Topol, MD, executive vice president at Scripps Research (La Jolla, Calif.) "Very sad to see @SGottliebFDA stepping down, the most effective @US_FDACommis- sioner in decades," the tweet read. 2. Stephen Ubl, CEO of Pharmaceutical Re- search Manufacturers of America "We congratulate @SGottliebFDA for his exemplary leadership at @US_FDA. He should be commended for his efforts to streamline the development & approval process of groundbreaking new treatments that are transforming the lives of patients & increasing competition in the market," his tweet read. 3. Seema Verma, CMS administrator "@SGottliebFDA has been both a great leader as @US_FDA Commissioner and a wonderful friend! I'm honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside him and see all that he has accomplished," her tweet read. 4. Paul Knoepfler, PhD, professor of cell biology at UC Davis School of Medi- cine (Sacramento, Calif.) "Seriously bad news: Commissioner @SGot- tliebFDA leaving the FDA. Bad on many levels including re: #stemcell clinics," the tweet read. 5. Ashish Jha, MD, dean and professor of global strategy in the public health school at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) "Terrible news for public health @SGottli- ebFDA is resigning as head of@US_FDA. Scott has been a ray of sunshine — advocat- ing for vaccines, smarter drug policy, more generics, tackling vaping and tobacco. Let's hope the next Commissioner is half as good," the tweet read. 6. President Donald Trump "Scott Gottlieb, who has done an absolutely terrific job as Commissioner of the FDA, plans to leave government service sometime next month… Scott has helped us to lower drug prices, get a record number of generic drugs approved and onto the market, and so many other things. He and his talents will be greatly missed!," the president's tweet read. 7. Norman Sharpless, MD, director of the National Cancer Institute "Scott has done a lot for cancer patients and all Americans. Bold leadership on tobacco control, generic drugs, novel biologics and so much more. I will miss working with you @ SGottliebFDA," he tweeted. 8. Jerome Adams, MD, U.S. surgeon general "Dr. Gottlieb (Scott) thanks for your tireless efforts to improve the health and safety of America! You will be missed, but the ground- work you laid means your efforts will continue on!" the tweet said. 9. Andrew Kolodny, MD, co-director of opi- oid policy research at the Heller School for So- cial Policy and Management (Waltham, Mass.) "With regard to Gottlieb's handling of opi- oids, I strongly disagree with President Trump. Gottlieb's public comments on opi- oids were much better than his predeces- sors & he had some new ideas, but behind scenes little changed. 2) Despite endorsing a report calling for an overhaul of opioid pol- icies - it never happened. Despite promising Congress he'd fix mistakes, he didn't. And he allowed FDA to approve a new opioid 500 times stronger than heroin," the tweet read. 10. Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, health ser- vices researcher and associate professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Cen- ter (Nashville, Tenn.) "is is so disappointing. @SGottliebF- DA has been a real force at FDA, particularly trying to help increase generic entry. Also kept a good sense of humor in a tough job. Sorry to see him go," she tweeted. n Children's Minnesota hires compliance officer after alleged antitrust violations By Alyssa Rege M inneapolis-based Children's Minnesota appointed an antitrust com- pliance officer as part of an agreement with the state attorney gener- al's office to settle allegations the health system violated federal and state antitrust laws, according to the StarTribune. Four things to know: 1. Children's Minnesota and the state attorney general's office entered into an agreement in November 2018 to resolve alleged antitrust violations. The health system has denied any wrongdoing. 2. As part of the agreement, Children's Minnesota said its deputy general counsel will serve as its antitrust compliance officer and will educate the board and staff on antitrust issues. 3. In 2016, Children's Minnesota agreed not to market a telehealth service in certain postal codes near an unnamed competing health system. The agree- ment stemmed from concerns the marketing would threaten a proposed business arrangement between the organizations, according to court filings obtained by the publication. 4. However, the health system initiated a 90-day digital "pre-marketing" cam- paign in March 2016, according to the court filing, therefore violating the sys- tems' arrangement. "Children's denies the allegation that it entered into any illegal agreement or otherwise violated state or federal antitrust laws," the chief legal officer for the health system said in a statement to the publication. "Children's entered into the assurance [with the attorney general's office] solely for the purpose of settlement to avoid further expense related to the investigation." n