Politico's Pulse Check

Scott Gottlieb was nominated to run the FDA in March 2017. Two years — and nearly 500 press announcements — later, the productive and high-profile commissioner is preparing to step down in early April 2019. Gottlieb joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss why he's leaving FDA (starts at 1:30), his regulatory and communications strategy (4:40), his work on medical device safety (10:30), digital health (16:30), opioid abuse (19:15), the Trump administration's approach to science and the choice of Ned Sharpless as acting FDA commissioner (24:25), what Gottlieb would've pursued if he had more time at FDA (26:30) and if he'll ever return to government (28:30). MENTIONED ON THE SHOW As commissioner, Gottlieb has received bipartisan praise for his activist agenda. Gottlieb's aggressive moves as commissioner came as a surprise, given his pre-Trump administration reputation as someone with a free-market background. The conservative Washington Times cheered Gottlieb's departure, suggesting that he became "an aven