One year in as FDA chief — does anyone not like Scott Gottlieb?

Like other victims of a toxic US political environment, Obama-era Food and Drug Administration pick Robert Califf did not long survive the political turbulence of presidential election season.

The inauguration of Donald Trump cleared the way for Scott Gottlieb to take the agency’s top job, just over a year ago.

Many suggested at the time that Dr Gottlieb, an internist and former banker, venture partner, pharma director and industry advisor, was simply too close to industry, too much of a pharmaceutical insider, to regulate meaningfully. Few would make that case today.