FDA Appointee Is a Drug Critic With a Lot to Prove: Lisa Jarvis

The controversial appointment of oncologist Vinay Prasad — an outspoken critic of the pharmaceutical industry and US health agencies — to a key role within the Food and Drug Administration was a shock for drug companies. Biotech stocks immediately fell over fears that the bar for drug approvals suddenly got a lot higher.

Tightening regulatory standards is a reasonable goal. But achieving it requires delicately balancing evidence and compassion, weighing certainty against speed. Prasad has had a lot to say over the years about how companies and the FDA have gotten that balance wrong. Now, as the director of the Center ...