“As a 33-year-old Wall Street insider known for recommending hot medical stocks, many were surprised when physician Scott Gottlieb was named FDA deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs in 2005. ‘Gottlieb has an orientation which belies the goal of the FDA,’ said Dr. Jerome Kassirer, former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine.’The appointment comes out of nowhere,’ said former FDA Commissioner Donald Kennedy. ‘Anything but a reassuring signal,’ said Time magazine. As critics feared, soon after assuming the number two FDA position, Gottlieb had to recuse himself from resource planning for a possible bird flu epidemic because of financial ties to Roche and Sanofi-Aventis. He also had to bow out of work related to Eli Lilly, Proctor & Gamble and five other drug companies.” (12/27/07)