President Bush named Andrew von Eschenbach as acting FDA commissioner. Von Eschenbach, a physician and cancer survivor who remains the director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health, replaces Lester Crawford, who resigned on September 23, just two months after being confirmed by the Senate.
A medical doctor, a cancer survivor and, until he joined NCI, the president-elect of the American Cancer Society, he is popular with many patient groups.