NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : New Interim Chief Chosen for FDA

James S. Benson, acting deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, will serve as interim commissioner when the agency’s current chief leaves next month, officials in Washington announced. FDA Commissioner Frank E. Young is to leave Dec. 18 to become a deputy assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services. FDA is part of the department. Unlike Young and the commissioners before him who were appointed by the department secretary, the next FDA chief will be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The change was made by Congress last year.