FDA's Kessler resigns
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November 25, 1996: 8:31 p.m. ET
Tobacco stocks rise on news of anti-smoking advocate's departure
From Correspondent Irv Chapman
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WASHINGTON (CNNfn) -- David Kessler, commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration, announced he will leave his post in early 1997 when a successor has been named.
News of the departure of the vocal anti-smoking advocate sent tobacco stocks sharply higher late Monday.
Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, jumped 3 1/8 to 105 1/2, RJR Nabisco Holdings, which makes Camel, gained 62 1/2 to 32; Loews Corp., which owns Lorillard, was up 3 5/8 to 94 5/8, and UST Inc. added 87 1/2 to 32 3/4.
Kessler led the FDA in its attempt to create a plan to regulate tobacco as a drug delivery device. His chief aim, he said, was to stem the tide of children taking up smoking.
Sam Kazman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute said that the real goal of Kessler was to make it harder for adults to smoke. (168K WAV) or (168K AIFF)
The FDA commissioner also sought to alleviate complaints against the department that it took too long to approve new drugs to fight disease. He cut the time the approval process required in half.
The pharmaceutical industry felt he could have done more, however.
"There have been tensions between our industry and Dr. Kessler and FDA," said Alan Magazine of the Health Industry Manufacturers.
"We've seen product review times really go up substantially during the last five or six years so that patients don't get access to the most advanced medical technologies."
Kessler, a doctor and a lawyer, was appointed by President George Bush in 1990 and stayed on into the Clinton administration.
President Clinton urged Kessler to remain at his post but the FDA chief said it was "time to return to private life."
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