Trump's FDA pick tries to distance himself from industry

President Donald Trump's choice to head up the US Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, is severing ties with industry in an attempt to put clear blue water between his previous life as a pharmaceutical insider and his new incarnation as FDA Commissioner.

In a statement provided to the US Office of Government Ethics, Dr Gottlieb stated he would divest himself of financial interests in more than 20 companies.

He also plans to bench himself on any decision-making regarding those companies, for a year, and will resign from his several formal roles in the industry.