IMPACT OF NEW DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS STILL BEING ASSESSED BY DEVICE INDUSTRY
With Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994 and the Senate for the first time since 2001, the healthcare agenda will now be in the hands of members who have been critical of HHS and FDA policy in the past, meaning changes for the FDA and industry may be on the way.
Based on seniority in key House committees, it appears that FDA critics such as Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) will shape healthcare policy during the 110th Congress.
Dingell will likely chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee, with Waxman chairing the Government Reform Committee and DeLauro the appropriations subcommittee that funds the FDA.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) will be taking over as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is slated to take over as chairman of the Committee on Finance, while Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) will likely head the Committee on Appropriations.
The new Democratic-controlled Congress will most likely address device and drug safety as well as oversight of the Bush administration, said John Manthei, a partner in Latham & Watkins and former majority counsel to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.