Clinton Picks Former Kessler Deputy to Head FDA

President Clinton on Tuesday picked Dr. Jane Henney, vice president of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, to head the Food and Drug Administration, one of the federal government’s key regulatory agencies.

If confirmed by the Senate, Henney will be the first woman to serve in the post, which has been vacant since the resignation of Dr. David A. Kessler 16 months ago.

Kessler charted an aggressive course for the agency, launching tough tobacco regulation initiatives and strongly enforcing medical regulations. Henney, whose nomination had been expected for months, worked for Kessler at the FDA from 1992 to 1994 as one of his closest deputies.

That credential makes her appealing to Clinton, consumer groups and Democratic lawmakers, all of whom supported Kessler’s controversial policies. But it could make for a bumpy confirmation process in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The FDA has been very much in the public eye in recent years, not only because of Kessler’s efforts but because the agency has an impact on virtually all products that Americans use every day: drugs, foods, cosmetics and medical devices that account for 25 cents of every dollar consumers spend.

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala praised Henney as “the person to lead the FDA into the next millennium.” Shalala added: “She has a proven track record at FDA and . . . will continue to shape the agency to respond to the changing nature of the industry and the health care marketplace.”

While at the FDA, Henney, 51, was identified more as a strong manager than as an issue-oriented official. Since leaving the agency, she has sought to establish her own identity, particularly in presiding over a large-scale consolidation of the University of New Mexico’s hospitals, schools of medicine, nursing and pharmacy, and specialized facilities for mental health, cancer and pediatrics.

Before working at the FDA, Henney, an oncologist, spent nearly a decade at the National Cancer Institute, ultimately serving as its deputy director.

One of Henney’s closest aides in New Mexico has described her as “a calm, rational decision-maker,” who, while “in harmony” with many of Kessler’s initiatives, is “not David Kessler--her approach will be different.”

Republican senators almost certainly will grill her concerning how she plans to institute a bill passed last year aimed at revamping FDA procedures. As a result, she is unlikely to be approved as speedily as Kessler, an appointee of President Bush, whose confirmation process took a mere eight days.

A spokesman for Sen. James M. Jeffords (R-Vt.), chairman of the Labor and Human Resources Committee, which will take up the nomination, said the panel plans to “take a much more active look” at Henney than it did at Kessler.

The spokesman said that Jeffords and other Republicans will be seeking assurances from Henney that she “will work in partnership” with lawmakers to ensure that the provisions of the FDA legislation are “swiftly implemented.”

Industry officials reacted with caution to Henney’s nomination.

“The important thing for us is her attitude in embracing continued reform at the FDA without lowering the standards,” said Carl Feldbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization.