Action on FDA Nominee Stalls

President Bush’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration hit a new snag Thursday after a key senator asked for an investigation of alleged personal improprieties.

Sen. Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.) told reporters he had recently received an anonymous letter containing allegations that reflected on acting FDA Commissioner Lester M. Crawford’s “personal propriety.” Enzi declined to spell out the allegations, which came from an FDA employee.

As chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Enzi has jurisdiction over Crawford’s nomination.

Enzi emphasized that he personally was satisfied with the FBI’s background check of Crawford, but said he nonetheless decided to seek further investigation of the letter.

Enzi asked the FDA’s Office of Internal Affairs to open the investigation, but it was unclear whether that office would keep the case since it ultimately reports to the acting commissioner. Enzi said he still intended to have the committee vote on the nomination this month.

The request for an investigation coincided with a decision by Enzi and the committee’s top Democrat, Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, to postpone a committee vote on Crawford’s nomination that had been scheduled for Wednesday.

In a joint statement, Enzi and Kennedy said they wanted to try to work out issues raised by senators of both parties.

Two Democratic committee members said last week that they would block a floor vote on Crawford until the FDA decided whether to allow the form of emergency contraception known as the “morning-after” pill to be sold without a prescription.

The investigation was also a factor in the postponement, said a committee staff member.

The White House expressed continued confidence in Crawford on Thursday, but some lawmakers said they sensed trouble.

“This confirms the controversial nature of Crawford’s nomination,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), one of the senators threatening to block a floor vote.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan urged the committee to resolve the allegations, the latest twist in what had been seen as an easy confirmation.

Committee spokesman Craig Orfield said there was no timetable for the investigation, although Enzi would like it done expeditiously.

Crawford, 67, has been acting commissioner of the FDA for a little over a year, during a period in which the agency has faced controversies about its oversight of drug safety.

Two arthritis painkillers, Vioxx and Bextra, have been taken off the market because they can cause heart attacks and strokes. And the FDA belatedly warned patients and doctors that taking antidepressants can prompt suicidal behavior in teenagers. Lawmakers and the administration are debating ways to strengthen the agency’s safety program.

A pharmacologist and veterinarian by training, Crawford joined the FDA as deputy commissioner in 2002.

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Times staff writers Janet Hook and Peter Wallsten in Washington contributed to this report.