Subject: Chief of FDA To Step Aside After 5 Years 
Date: Published: 11/14/89 (93 lines)
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    Chief of FDA
    To Step Aside
    After 5 Years
    ----
    Frank Young, Often Mired
    In Agency Controversies,
    Takes New Federal Post
    ----
    By Bruce Ingersoll
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    WASHINGTON -- After five, often stormy years as head of
 the Food and Drug Administration, Frank Young will take
 another government post in what is widely seen as a move by
 the Bush administration to kick him upstairs.
    Many in the pharmaceutical industry and on Capitol Hill
 see Dr. Young as a scapegoat for the generic-drug scandal and
 other problems that have been dogging the FDA.  Some said that
 Dr. Young was fed up with being a lightning rod for criticism
 from AIDS activists, consumer advocates and hostile
 lawmakers, and was ready for a change.
    Yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Louis
 Sullivan said Dr. Young has accepted the position of deputy
 assistant secretary for health/science and environment.  A
 spokesman for Dr. Sullivan characterized the transfer as "a
 lateral move" rather than a demotion for the energetic,
 Bible-quoting specialist in biotechnology and former dean of
 the University of Rochester medical school.
    Political jockeying for the FDA post already has begun,
 according to industry and FDA officials.  An early leading
 candidate is Robert Pinco, a former director of
 over-the-counter drug review at the agency and a partner in
 the Washington law firm of Baker & Hostetler, whose clientele
 includes several large drug companies.  "He has substantial
 political support," said John Lewis Smith III, the firm's
 managing partner.
    Dr. Young's impending departure from the FDA drew mixed
 reactions.  Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.)  , one of the FDA's
 arch critics, indicated he doesn't hold Dr. Young responsible
 for the agency's failings, including the generic-drug
 scandal.  Rep. Dingell is chairman of the House Energy and
 Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, which
 brought the scandal to light.  He privately has told
 colleagues that he had come to regard Dr. Young as an ally in
 rooting out fraud and corruption in the generic industry and
 the agency.
    "Frank Young had the misfortune to preside at the FDA
 during a time when it was virtually guaranteed that rogues
 and knaves would prosper," the Michigan Democrat said.  "His
 intentions were good ...but he was handicapped by both the
 budgets and attitudes of an administration that let the
 agency go to seed."
    Rep. Thomas Bliley Jr.  (R., Va.)  , ranking minority member
 on the oversight subcommittee, called Dr. Young's departure
 "a setback" for FDA-reform efforts.  Dr. Young "was on his way
 toward making long overdue changes at the FDA," he said.  "In
 short, Dr. Young was part of the solution, not part of the
 problem."
    But Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Health Research
 Group, called Dr. Young the worst commissioner in 18 years
 and said his "forced resignation can only improve the health
 of the American public."  The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
 Association, on the other hand, commended Dr. Young for
 expediting the approval of drugs for AIDS and other
 life-threatening diseases and for improving FDA management,
 among other things.
    Dr. Young, 58 years old, will replace James Dickson, who
 was senior adviser for environmental affairs until early this
 fall.  He also will take on additional duties in his new post,
 reporting to James Mason, assistant secretary for health.
    "It sounds like a job for a 35-year-old," said one drug
 industry official.  Added Hemant Shah, a drug industry
 analyst:  "Dr. Young had definitely enjoyed his title as
 commissioner; I'm sure he would have preferred to stay."
    But James Brown, a spokesman for the Health and Human
 Services Department, disagreed that Dr. Young's reassignment
 was a step down.  "Dr. Mason had a need to fill this job,"
 said Mr. Brown.  "He wanted someone he could rely on.  Dr. 
 Young thought it would be a challenge."
    Dr. Young will coordinate the development and use of
 technology and physical science within the U. S. Public Health
 Service, Mr. Brown said.  He also will be responsible for
 analyzing the impact of new technology on the U. S. 
 health-care system.

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