FDA Chief Resigns After Clearing Slew of Drugs, Wrestling E-Cigs

Gottlieb led drug agency since start of Trump administration
Drug stocks fall, tobacco stocks briefly rise after news

Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) listens during a House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The committee is looking for answers on how to improve preparedness during this year's particularly severe flu season and the effectiveness of vaccines.Photographer: Toya Sarno Jordan/Bloomberg

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By Anna Edney and Margaret Talev

March 5, 2019 at 8:16 PM UTC

Updated on

March 5, 2019 at 11:03 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is resigning, ending a tenure where he approved a flood of drugs and pushed for sharp curbs on e-cigarettes to halt what he called an epidemic of youth use.

Gottlieb earned a reputation as an attentive and media-savvy regulator in a Trump administration that’s taken a more hands-off approach in many other areas of oversight. A medical doctor, Gottlieb won over the agency’s staff and became a celebrated figure among pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms and medical-device makers for moving swiftly to bring more innovative treatments to the marketplace.