Senate HELP Committee Approves Von Eschenbach Nomination To Head FDA; Sen. DeMint Promises To Continue Hold Over Mifeprex

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday by voice vote approved President Bush's nomination of acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to permanently head the agency, but potential holds to a full Senate vote on the nomination remain, the New York Times reports (Harris, New York Times, 9/21). Wesley Denton, press secretary for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), said recently that the senator plans to place a hold on von Eschenbach's nomination unless "immediate steps" are taken to remove Danco Laboratories' medical abortion drug Mifeprex from the market. FDA in 2000 approved the sale of Mifeprex -- known generically as mifepristone -- to be used with misoprostol to induce a medical abortion, and more than 575,000 women have taken the drug since its approval, according to the National Abortion Federation. Experts in May called for more research into the causes of infection from the rare and potentially fatal bacterium Clostridium sordellii and other bacteria in women who were pregnant, some of whom took medical abortion drugs. Any senator can place a hold on full Senate consideration of nominations. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) also has said he would place a hold on the nomination until the Bush administration allows U.S. residents to purchase U.S.- made prescription drugs from abroad (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 9/15). DeMint in a statement released on Wednesday said, "I believe a qualified FDA nominee would publicly discourage the use of [Mifeprex] and take immediate steps to suspend the drug until a full investigation can be completed. Dr. von Eschenbach has now been acting FDA commissioner for a year, yet he has done nothing to publicly discourage the use of this deadly drug" (Watts, Dow Jones, 9/20). Senate HELP Committee Chair Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) said he and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the ranking member on the panel, would be working "virtually full time" until the Senate convenes next week to persuade senators to approve the nomination (New York Times, 9/21). A spokesperson for DeMint said that while the senator "continues to work with the administration, the FDA and the (HELP) committee," he will maintain his hold on the nomination (Young, The Hill, 9/21).

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