Introduction

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD returns to look at the systemic problems within the CDC and how we might fix them. He describes how the agency’s bureaucratic glut, mission creep, and lack of transparency contributed to the disastrous COVID-19 response and America’s loss of trust in its public health institutions. Later in the episode we turn focus to the FDA and reforming its approval process for innovative drugs and technologies, and end with a conversation about drug pricing reforms.

Scott Gottlieb, MD, is the author of "Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic." He is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. From 2017 to 2019 he served as the 23rd commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Gottlieb is also a special partner with the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates and serves on the boards of Pfizer, Illumina, Aetion, and Tempus. Follow him on Twitter at @ScottGottliebMD.