'Drug Administration' Just Has a Different Ring to It

In President Obama's naming of Margaret Hamburg and Joshua Sharfstein to the top spots at the FDA, some see a signal that the Obama administration favors splitting the FDA in two, one part to oversee drugs and the other food, according to this wire story. The article says drug company executives are in favor of the partition as they see an opening for faster drug reviews -- the FDA missed deadlines last year on an estimated 20 percent of drug applications -- and the FDA has been besieged by food safety issues that some say "have made senior officials even more risk-averse on drug approvals."