Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who distributed the first federal funds for stem-cell research and expanded the Medicare health-insurance plan, resigned today.

Thompson is the eighth member of President George W. Bush's cabinet to quit since his Nov. 2 re-election. That ties Richard Nixon's record for the most Cabinet departures between terms. Thompson said in September he didn't want to keep his job.

``I do not tender my resignation easily,'' Thompson, 63, said at a press conference in Washington. ``I have had remarkable opportunities in the last four years, ones I never would have dreamt were possible. It's time for me and my family to move on.''

Candidates to succeed Thompson include Medicare chief Mark McClellan; Deputy HHS Secretary Claude Allen; William Roper, who worked on health-care issues during the Reagan administration; retiring Democratic Senator John Breaux of Louisiana; former Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker of Kansas; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and Republican Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. The U.S. Senate must confirm Bush's choice.

Thompson, a four-term governor of Wisconsin who led HHS since Jan. 24, 2001, has been Bush's point man on such controversial issues as drug importation and Medicare prescription-drug coverage.

``He is a friend and a true public servant who worked every day to make Americans healthier,'' Bush said in a statement. ``I appreciate his desire to tackle new challenges.''

Bush's Ally

Thompson said at the press conference that he tried to quit a year ago. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card persuaded him to stay.

``He had probably the most important quality for any cabinet member, which is he had a good relationship with the president,'' said Edward Howard, executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform, a bipartisan group in Washington. ``I don't know of any huge mistakes that he made.''

As HHS secretary, Thompson led the agencies that provide health insurance to the elderly and the poor, approve new medicines and research diseases and oversee the welfare system.

Almost a quarter of all federal spending comes from his department, which has a $548 billion budget, 66,639 workers and more than 300 programs to run. When he first took the job, the department's budget was $423 billion and it had 59,000 employees.

Defended FDA

Thompson defended the Food and Drug Administration, part of the health department, after the Sept. 30 recall of Merck & Co.'s Vioxx painkiller and the Oct. 5 revelation that half the U.S. influenza vaccine supply was being held up by U.K. regulators. He spoke with manufacturers, seeking additional vaccine doses for U.S. citizens.

``There are two things that really worry me yet, and the big one is pandemic flu,'' Thompson said today. ``We're not prepared for it. This is a really huge bomb out there that could adversely impact on the health care of the world.''

The second area he is ``still very much worried about it every single night, is food poisoning,'' he said. ``I, for the life of me, cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply, because it is easy to do. Those two areas need a lot more work.''

Medicare Expansion

Thompson put provisions of the 2003 Medicare law into effect with the help of his new Medicare chief, McClellan. In June, Medicare patients were enabled to start using cards to get discounts on medicines at their local pharmacies. Medicare also rolled out a pilot project to cover oral cancer treatments.

Thompson last year negotiated the law that expanded Medicare managed-care and payments for medicines such as Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor cholesterol-lowering pill. He personally lobbied lawmakers on the House and Senate floors during the votes on the Medicare law.

``I would like to have had the opportunity to negotiate'' with drugmakers on prices, Thompson said today. Under the Medicare law, the government is prohibited from directly haggling with manufacturers over prices. Medicare will hire private companies such as Express Scripts Inc. to negotiate.

In 2001, Thompson refused to enforce a measure allowing Americans to purchase drugs from Canada, where government regulations hold prices as much as 70 percent lower than in the U.S.; imposed regulations to protect the privacy of patients' medical records; and backed Bush's plan to limit funding for stem- cell research, which some scientists say holds the promise of treating illnesses including Alzheimer's disease. He also lobbied Congress on patient-rights legislation that didn't pass.

Anthrax, Drug Imports

Thompson activated the National Disaster Medical System after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., sending medical supplies and personnel to New York and Washington.

He established a war room to combat the anthrax contamination of the U.S. mail in 2001. He awarded a $428 million contract to Baxter International Inc. and Acambis Plc to produce smallpox vaccine and negotiated a discount with Bayer AG to stockpile its Cipro antibiotic. He also opened a command center at HHS's Washington headquarters so that he could monitor outbreaks of disease nationwide.

He picked Surgeon General Richard Carmona to lead a government task force on imported drugs and approved the first- ever state purchasing pool for prescription medicines. As the FDA began issuing warnings to states that sought to aid the purchase of price-regulated drugs from Canada, Thompson told reporters that legalizing the practice was ``inevitable.''

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria made Thompson its chairman in 2003, and his term lasts through this year. Thompson toured African communities last year that were using U.S. funds to stop the spread of the disease and presented one hospital with its own cow.

Personal Touch

Thompson spoke about health care in a personal way, telling lawmakers at hearings that he took Lipitor for high cholesterol. On Feb. 10, he nodded at lawmakers as they expressed concern for his daughter, Tommi, who had breast cancer. He challenged his employees to exercise more and lose weight, and pledged to lose 10 pounds himself. He also championed smoking-cessation programs and FDA regulation of tobacco as a drug.

The son of a gas station owner, Thompson graduated from the University of Wisconsin law school and served in the state legislature for 20 years before becoming governor in 1986. The National Governors Association appointed him chairman in 1995. He and his wife of more than three decades, Sue Ann, have three adult children: Tommi, Kelli and Jason, according to the HHS Web site.

When he first arrived in Washington, Thompson would often contrast it with his hometown of Elroy, Wisconsin.

``You could dial a wrong number and still have a 30-minute conversation,'' he said on numerous occasions.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristen Hallam in Washington at khallam@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 3, 2004 17:10 EST