The tenure of Dr. Lester M. Crawford as FDA Commissioner was a short one, with his resignation in September coming less than three months after his confirmation.
Dr. Crawford’s stay at the FDA as deputy commissioner, acting commissioner, and then as commissioner was never without controversy and his critics inside the agency, in Congress, and among consumer advocates often accused him of making decisions based on political considerations and not on medical or scientific grounds.
The inordinate (three-year) delay in acting on Barr Laboratories’ application to approve the over-the-counter (OTC) sale of the emergency contraceptive Plan B was seen by many as being driven by politics, although Dr. Crawford maintained his actions were motivated solely by scientific and legal considerations.
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