Sanders blasts Obama's FDA nominee

By Paige Winfield Cunningham, Paige Winfield Cunningham

Published December 20, 2015

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Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders blasted President Obama's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, saying Robert Califf isn't the person the agency needs to "stand up" to drug companies.

"I believe we need a commissioner who will stand up to the pharmaceutical industry and stick up for consumers, and I have to say with regret I believe you are not that person," Sanders, I-Vt., told Califf at a Senate confirmation hearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Sanders, who has made high drug prices a major feature of his campaign, drilled Califf on whether he would support allowing Americans to buy drugs from companies located in other industrialized countries. Americans pay more for drugs than in any other developed country, he noted.