Following up on Monday’s post on the FDA once again kowtowing to the far right on Plan B emergency contraceptives, it appears not everyone at the agency was fond of the decision.
The top Food and Drug Administration official in charge of women’s health issues resigned today in protest against the agency’s decision last week to further delay a final ruling on the whether the emergency contraceptive “morning-after pill” should be made more easily accessible.
Susan F. Wood, assistant FDA commissioner for women’s health and director of the Office of Women’s Health, said she was leaving her position after five years because Commissioner Lester Crawford’s decision on Friday amounted to unwarranted interference in agency decision-making.
“I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overuled,” she wrote in an e-mail to her staff and FDA colleagues.
She said that Crawford’s position — that unresolved regulatory issues made it impossible to approve expanded use of the drug — is “contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women’s health.”
Good for Wood. It’s easy to forget, but the fact is Karl Rove has not yet ensured complete and total obedience to the conservative cause from every employee in the executive branch.
We can only hope others will follow Wood’s example.