Who is Andrew von Eschenbach

At a gala evening honoring TIME Magazine's 100 People Who Shape Our World, the VIP guests began to arrive and alight on the red carpet. As shock-jock Howard Stern emerged from his limo, the crowd went wild. A similar round of cheers welcomed honoree Paul Simon. Moments later, Andrew von Eschenbach was greeted with polite smiles and quizzical looks. Little did the crowd realize that this man, Commissioner of the FDA, had perhaps more of an affect on their daily lives than any other member of TIME's esteemed roster of influential people.

This anecdote was related by my sister-in-law, Madelyn, who happens to be married to Andrew von Eschenbach, or Andy as he is known to family and friends.

TIME Magazine Selects the 100 Most Influential People in the World
Photo Essay | An Evening With the TIME 100

Andrew C. von Eschenbach (born October 30, 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was the Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration from 2006-2009. He became acting Commissioner on September 26, 2005, after the resignation of his predecessor Lester Crawford, and was confirmed as Commissioner by the Senate on December 7, 2006. He was previously the 12th director of the National Cancer Institute.

After graduating from St. Joseph's Preparatory School, Von Eschenbach received his bachelor of science in biology from St. Joseph's University in 1963 and his MD from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1967. He did residencies at Pennsylvania Hospital in general surgery and urology and taught urology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He served in the US Navy Medical Corps with the rank of lieutenant commander from 1968 to 1971.

In 1976, von Eschenbach began his long association with The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, beginning as a urologic oncology fellow and becoming chair of the department of urology in 1983. He was founding director of the Prostate Cancer Research Program in 1996, director of the Genitourinary Cancer Center, and held the Roy M. and Phyllis Gough Huffington Clinical Research Distinguished Chair in Urologic Oncology. Driven by his father's prostate cancer, he specialized in the disease.

Von Eschenbach was president-elect of the American Cancer Society when he was selected by President George W. Bush to head the NCI in December 2001. As director of the NCI he announced in 2003 that his organization's goal was to "eliminate suffering and death" caused by cancer by the year 2015. However, under von Eschenbach's leadership the FDA has been criticized for being too risk averse when considering life saving treatments for desperate, dying patients. For example, in 2007 the FDA failed to approve Provenge for the treatment of late stage prostate cancer against the recommendation of an independent advisory committee.

In 2006, Time named him as one of the Time 100 "People Who Shape Our World", writing that as head of the FDA, which "wields enormous influence on American lives," von Eschenbach "could make a signal contribution to the public's health" by focusing on issues of diet and obesity in addition to drugs and disease.

On August 1, 2006, Senators Clinton and Cantwell announced they would block his nomination to be the permanent FDA commissioner because of his department's failure to act on the application by Barr Pharmaceuticals to sell Plan B over-the-counter. They ultimately voted for his nomination.

Our best weapon today to deal with cancer is to be able to find it early, at a time when we still can effectively apply treatment. And we have a variety of methods of early detection available to us. We have, for example, mammography for breast cancer, and colonoscopy for colon cancer, and PSA, or prostate specific antigen, for prostate cancer. Those tests give us the opportunity to determine whether there may or may not be a problem present, and that gives us the opportunity to make rational decisions as to what we may need to do about that problem.

As a two-time cancer survivor and a cancer specialist, I have witnessed patients struggle to find a solution for their disease and place their hope in an experimental drug. There is, and always must be, a pathway for such options. Nonetheless, allowing mass marketing and promotion of unproven therapies would have serious consequences: false hope and lack of real medical progress that could ultimately lead to control and cure of devastating illnesses.

CNBC, August 21, 2007
TIME Magazine: April 30, 2006
Bloomberg Press, December 7, 2006
TIME Magazine: March 19, 2006
NPR, March 16, 2006
Congressional Record, Senate Floor Speech, December 7, 2006
TIME Magazine: October 3, 2005
Pharmaceutical Executive, September 27, 2005
Cyclist Lance Armstrong Visits NIH: NIH Record, November 25, 2003
The New York Times, March 11, 2003
Health & Human Services Press Release, December 6, 2001
Online NewsHour
FDA Biography of Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D.
The Cancer Genome Atlas

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, NCI director,
welcomes Lance Armstrong and fellow
Tour of Hope bicyclists Peter Scacheri
and Milana Dolezal to NIH (2003)

For over 100 years, FDA has been recognized and praised as the gold standard of regulation throughout the world. Being given the opportunity to lead the Agency at this time, it is my responsibility to continue the excellent work of my predecessors and ensure that the Agency is equipped to handle the challenges of today and the future. The world is experiencing a rapid expansion of scientific knowledge and globalization that will have dramatic impacts on the industries and products that we regulate. The Agency must be equipped with the expertise and infrastructure to meet emerging challenges, such as: foodborne disease outbreaks, intentional or unintentional; evaluation of complex drugs and biologics brought about by emerging progress in molecular biology; the potential for pandemic flu; and medical devices bioengineered, miniaturized, and increasingly autonomous in evaluating and modulating our state of health.

FDA is working hard to ensure the safety and security of food, in collaboration with our Federal, state, local, and international food safety partners, and with consumers, industry, and academia. As a result of this effective collaboration, the American food supply continues to be among the safest in the world. Although we have made progress, much remains to be done. The recent incidents of contaminated food and animal feed demonstrate the challenges we face and the need to move toward a food safety and security system that is even more proactive and strategic, with a field force that is trained and equipped to focus on the challenges of today and tomorrow.

© 2009 Kim Giancaterino

This Squidoo Lens by Kim Giancaterino is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.


Mona Lisa Simpson © FOX Broadcasting Company

Free Images for Your Websites & Lenses... Generous Commissions on Your Sales!