President-elect Trump’s choice for deputy secretary of Health and Human Services is Jim O’Neill, an investor and historically close associate of billionaire Peter Thiel, the president-elect said Tuesday.
“I am very pleased to nominate Jim O’Neill to serve as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services to work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” Trump said in a Tuesday statement.
O’Neill has also held roles as managing director at Thiel’s Mithril Capital Management and principal associate deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services during former President George W. Bush’s administration.
In a 2014 speech, O’Neill called for pushing against the FDA’s mission to consider the efficacy of drugs in its decision to approve them.
“We should reform FDA so that it’s approving drugs after their sponsors have demonstrated safety and let people start using them at their own risk, but not much risk of safety,” O’Neill said.
Trump announced on Tuesday that he has selected Jim O’Neill, an investor and longtime close friend of billionaire Peter Thiel, to be his deputy secretary of health and human services.
Jim O’Neill, who will work alongside Robert F. Kennedy as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, is my choice with great pleasure. Kennedy Jr. In a statement released on Tuesday, Trump said. In order to “make America healthy again,” he will supervise all operations and enhance management, transparency, and accountability. “.”.
In the statement, Trump added that O’Neill and Kennedy “will fight in unison to ensure every American, and especially our most precious resource, our children, will live long and healthy lives and, Make America Great and Healthy Again!”.
Trump’s preference for O’Neill to be appointed deputy HHS secretary was covered by the Washington Post on Monday.
As he entered his first term in late 2016, the president-elect had previously considered O’Neill for the position of head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to Bloomberg reporting.
During former President George W. Bush’s administration, O’Neill also served as principal associate deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services and managing director at Thiel’s Mithril Capital Management. the Bush administration.
In a 2014 speech, O’Neill advocated for opposing the FDA’s mandate to evaluate a drug’s effectiveness before approving it. The agency should only look at the safety of drugs, he said.
O’Neill stated, “We should change the FDA so that it only approves medications after their sponsors have proven their safety and allows users to begin using them at their own risk, but with little risk of safety.”. However, let’s demonstrate their effectiveness once they’re legalized. “.”.
Experts expressed concern about his comments, claiming that they showed a lack of understanding of the FDA’s review procedure and that it is impossible to distinguish between safety and efficacy issues.
