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| {{short description|Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration}} | |||
| {{Infobox |
{{Infobox officeholder | ||
| ⚫ | | |
||
| | |
| name = Herbert L. Ley Jr. | ||
| ⚫ | | image = Herbert L. Ley Jr.gif | ||
| |office = ] | | office = 9th ] | ||
| |president = ] | | president = ]<br>] | ||
| |term_start = July 1, 1968 | |||
| | |
| term_start = July 1, 1968 | ||
| | term_end = December 12, 1969 | |||
| |predecessor = ] | |||
| | |
| predecessor = ] | ||
| | successor = ] | |||
| |birth_date = September 7, 1923 | |||
| | birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|9|7}} | |||
| |birth_place = ], ], U.S. | | birth_place = ], ], U.S. | ||
| |death_date = July 22, 2001 (age 77) | |||
| | death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|7|22|1923|9|7}} | |||
| |death_place = ], ] | | death_place = ], ], U.S. | ||
| |party = ]<ref> |
| party = ]<ref name=OralHistLey></ref> | ||
| |spouse = | |||
| | |
| spouse = | ||
| ⚫ | | children = 2 | ||
| |alma_mater = ] | | alma_mater = ] | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''Herbert Leonard Ley |
'''Herbert Leonard Ley Jr.''' (September 7, 1923 – July 22, 2001) was an American ] and the 9th ] of the U.S. ] (FDA). | ||
| == |
==Background== | ||
| Dr. Ley attended ] from 1941 |
Dr. Ley attended ] from 1941 to 1943, and returned there after ], where he received his M.D. degree, '']'', in 1946. In 1951, he earned a ] degree from the ]. From 1951 until 1958, he worked with the ] in ] disease research, the ], and as an ] in ] and ]. | ||
| In 1958, he accepted a position as Professor of ] and Chairman of the Department of Bacteriology, Hygiene, and Preventive Medicine at ]. In 1963, he was appointed Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Microbiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, and became chairman of the Department in 1964. |
In 1958, he accepted a position as Professor of ] and Chairman of the Department of Bacteriology, Hygiene, and Preventive Medicine at ]. In 1963, he was appointed Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Microbiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, and became chairman of the Department in 1964. | ||
| == |
==FDA== | ||
| In September 1966, Ley took a leave of absence from his position to become director of the Bureau of Medicine of the ] and on July 1, 1968, he was appointed ] by President ].<ref>About FDA/Commissioner's Page (Page Last Updated: 06/04/2009) . ] Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref><ref>(June 07, 1968). "... Dr. Herbert L. Ley Jr., director of the Food and Drug Administration's Bureau of Medicine since 1966.." . '']''. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref> Ley served as FDA commissioner for only a year and a half; he was ousted in December 1969.<ref name=Leyleaving/> | |||
| Dr. Ley found himself immediately enmeshed in controversy when the Fountain Committee (a ] hearing<ref> Page 13 . ]. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref>){{DL|date=December 2014}} criticized his ten month delay in removing mislabeled stocks of parenteral ] from the market. This experience strengthened his regulatory commitment. In light of recommendations made by the ] and ] in their drug efficacy review, Dr. Ley took a strong and unwavering stance against fixed ]s and ordered 49 off of the market. Ley also strongly castigated drug industry practices in general, warning them that "unless there is a major change in the drug industry emphasis on sales over safety, the industry as we know it today may well be buried within the next several years in a grave it has helped dig--inch by inch, overpromotion by overpromotion, bad drug by bad drug."<ref>About FDA/Commissioner's Page (Page Last Updated: 06/04/2009) . FDA. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref> | |||
| His three years at the FDA came during the time when the FDA grew from an insignificant agency to the key agency protecting consumers; during that time 300 drugs were removed from the market.<ref name=Leyleaving/> After he left, Ley stated that he had "constant, tremendous, sometimes unmerciful pressure" from the drug industry and that the drug company lobbyists, combined with the politicians who worked on behalf of their patrons, could bring “tremendous pressure” to bear on him and his staff, to try preventing FDA restrictions on their drugs. Ley complained that his agency faced budget shortfalls and lacked support from the ] and Congress;<ref name=RossNazzal/> Ley was on the ].<ref name=OralHistLey/> | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | An example of the clashes the FDA had with pressure groups, involved the drug company ] and their patented drug Panalba. Panalba was a combination of ], an inexpensive and effective generic drug, with ], a more toxic antibacterial with a different spectrum of activity. Although Upjohn had been marketing the drug for 7 years, they had not done any of the required studies on the efficacy of it and so the FDA under Ley moved to decertify it. Ley met tremendous opposition from Upjohn.<ref name=OralHistLey/>{{rp|17–19}} | ||
| In March 2003 Dr. ] who replaced Dr. Ley as Commissioner, was interviewed and told his story about his assumption of office. After accepting the Nixon administration’s offer to become FDA Commissioner, Edwards had planned initially to serve as an assistant to HEW Secretary Robert Finch for a short while, in order to get a sense of what was going on in FDA. But two days after he arrived in Washington, the newspapers leaked the story that Edwards would become the new Commissioner—prompting the current Commissioner, Herbert Ley, to resign. Finch then called Edwards and told him, “The job is yours.” Edwards went over to Ley’s office—the two men had never met—which had a long conference table with piles of neatly stacked papers. Edwards recalled: “I asked him what were the major problems of the agency. He pointed to the papers and said, ‘There they are.’ He tossed me a toy football and said, ‘The ball is in your court’”.<ref>Alex Gordon (April 29, 2003). footnote #26 . ''] DASH (Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard)''. Retrieved August 26, 2013.</ref> | |||
| The highest profile issue that Ley had to confront was ]. An ], it was originally brought to market as a ], but in 1958, it was designated GRAS (]) and its uses expanded, first into table sugars, then into many foods. By 1969 annual sales of cyclamate had reached $1 billion. However, by that time some animal studies had shown that very high doses of cyclamates, at levels of humans ingesting 350 cans of diet soda per day, led to higher rates of bladder cancer in rats.<ref>{{cite web|title=Not all are convinced by sweet science|url=http://www.canada.com/cityguides/hamilton/info/story.html?id=de4d77a6-d926-45c2-8bc3-d61797d89cc0|access-date=2015-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210121330/http://www.canada.com/cityguides/hamilton/info/story.html?id=de4d77a6-d926-45c2-8bc3-d61797d89cc0|archive-date=2015-02-10|url-status=dead}}</ref> Amidst the growth of the ] and its concern with chemicals, pressure mounted on the government to restrict the use of cyclamate. In October 1969, ] Secretary ] bypassed Ley and the FDA, and removed the GRAS designation from cyclamate, banning its use in general purpose foods but keeping it available for restricted use in dietary products with additional labeling. In October 1970, a year after Ley left, the FDA banned cyclamate completely from all food and drug products in the United States.<ref name="The Search for Sweetness">{{cite journal|last1=Chedd|first1=Grahm|title=The Search for Sweetness|journal=New Scientist|date=May 9, 1974|volume=62|issue=897|page=299|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zTFpyBr4WvgC&pg=PA299}}</ref> | |||
| Dr. Ley was ousted from his Commissioner post on December 12, 1969, (a year and six months after his appointment)<ref>(December 12, 1969). . '']''. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref> Dr. Ley declined an offer to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for health research, development, and delivery services in ] (which he regarded as "exile in Siberia"<ref>The FDA's History Office (December 15, 1999). Page 24 . FDA. Retrieved September 2, 2013.</ref>) and resigned.<ref>About FDA/Commissioner's Page . FDA. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref> Dr. Ley denied being fired , telling reporters he preferred the phrase "eased out". Dr. Ley stated that companies had not pressured him regarding decisions about specific products during his tenure.<ref>Washington Post, Obituaries (August 16, 2001). . '']''. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref>In accepting Ley's resignation, Secretary of HEW Finch praised him as a "gifted scientist and a dedicated public servant," saying that he had "coped strenuously with an unwieldy agency".<ref>About FDA/Commissioner's Page (Page Last Updated: 06/04/2009) . FDA. Retrieved September 2, 2013.</ref> | |||
| Dr. Ley was ousted from his Commissioner post on December 12, 1969, and was replaced by ].<ref name=OralHistLey/>{{rp|24}}<ref name=Leyleaving>(December 12, 1969). . '']''. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref><ref>Alex Gordon (April 29, 2003). footnote #26 . ''] DASH (Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard)''. Retrieved August 26, 2013.</ref><ref>About FDA/Commissioner's Page . FDA. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref><ref name="Los Angeles Times">Washington Post, Obituaries (August 16, 2001). . '']''. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | In September 1982, interviewed for the oral history program of the FDA History Office, |
||
| ===Reviews of his tenure=== | |||
| In accepting Ley's resignation, Secretary of HEW Finch praised him as a "gifted scientist and a dedicated public servant," saying that he had "coped strenuously with an unwieldy agency".<ref>About FDA/Commissioner's Page (Page Last Updated: 06/04/2009) . FDA. Retrieved September 2, 2013.</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | In September 1982, interviewed for the oral history program of the FDA History Office, Maurice D. Kinslow, Chairman of the committee and author of the final draft of the July 1969 "Kinslow report" characterized Dr. Ley as Commissioner: "Since I reported to him as a District Director and subsequently took on the special assignment , I had a lot of personal contact with him. I found him to be a very honest, decent person to work for. I respect Herb Ley; he was very different that either ] or ] , but I'm convinced he was dedicated to the best interests of the American public. And indeed, I believe that he got into significant trouble during his last days in the agency during the fall of 1969, in connection with the banning of ] because he did what the Secretary told him to do (to not discuss the matter within the FDA). He was a good soldier."<ref>The FDA's History Office (September 16&18, 1982). Pages 52-54. FDA. Retrieved August 27, 2013.</ref> | ||
| ==After the FDA== | ==After the FDA== | ||
| After his resignation, in an interview to the ''New York Times'', Dr. Ley warned the public about the FDA’s inability to safeguard consumers. People were being misled, he believed “The thing that bugs me is that the people think the FDA is protecting them - it isn’t. What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks it’s doing are as different as night and day,” he said. |
After his resignation, in an interview to the ''New York Times'', Dr. Ley warned the public about the FDA’s inability to safeguard consumers. People were being misled, he believed “The thing that bugs me is that the people think the FDA is protecting them - it isn’t. What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks it’s doing are as different as night and day,” he said.<ref name=RossNazzal>Jennifer Ross-Nazzal. page 226. ''] History Division''. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref><ref>Richard D. Lyons (December 31, 1969). . '']''. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref> | ||
| On December 15, 1999, interviewed for the oral history program of the FDA History Office, Dr. Ley shared that from the first controversy in his tenure as FDA Commissioner he had a "gut feeling" that his life expectancy at the FDA was probably limited. He attributed this to the administration wishing that he would "stonewall" an Academy of Medicine report supporting removal from the market of many pharmaceutical products that had been approved between 1938 and 1962 based without proof of efficacy, and that his failure to do so adversely affected the financial interests of the pharmaceutical industry.<ref>. FDA. Retrieved August 25, 2013.</ref> | |||
| Dr. Herbert L. Ley Jr died of cardiovascular disease on July 22, 2001 at his home in ]. He was 77. Survivors include two children from his first marriage, and a sister.<ref |
Dr. Herbert L. Ley Jr died of cardiovascular disease on July 22, 2001, at his home in ]. He was 77. Survivors include two children from his first marriage, and a sister.<ref name="Los Angeles Times"/> | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| Line 47: | Line 53: | ||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| * | * | ||
| * | |||
| {{Food and Drug Administration}} | {{Food and Drug Administration}} | ||
| {{Authority control}} | |||
| ⚫ | {{DEFAULTSORT:Ley, Herbert L. Jr.}} | ||
| {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. --> | |||
| ⚫ | | |
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| | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | |||
| | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American physician | |||
| | DATE OF BIRTH = September 7, 1923 | |||
| | PLACE OF BIRTH = ], ], U.S. | |||
| | DATE OF DEATH = July 22, 2001 | |||
| | PLACE OF DEATH = ], ] | |||
| }} | |||
| ⚫ | {{DEFAULTSORT:Ley, Herbert}} | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
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Latest revision as of 19:12, 26 October 2024
Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration| Herbert L. Ley Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 9th Commissioner of Food and Drugs | |
| In office July 1, 1968 – December 12, 1969 | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | James L. Goddard |
| Succeeded by | Charles C. Edwards |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1923-09-07)September 7, 1923 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | July 22, 2001(2001-07-22) (aged 77) Rockville, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Independent |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
Herbert Leonard Ley Jr. (September 7, 1923 – July 22, 2001) was an American physician and the 9th Commissioner and head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Background
Dr. Ley attended Harvard College from 1941 to 1943, and returned there after World War II, where he received his M.D. degree, cum laude, in 1946. In 1951, he earned a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. From 1951 until 1958, he worked with the Army Medical Service Graduate School in rickettsial disease research, the Office of the Surgeon General, and as an epidemiologist in Korea and Vietnam.
In 1958, he accepted a position as Professor of Bacteriology and Chairman of the Department of Bacteriology, Hygiene, and Preventive Medicine at George Washington University. In 1963, he was appointed Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Microbiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, and became chairman of the Department in 1964.
FDA
In September 1966, Ley took a leave of absence from his position to become director of the Bureau of Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration and on July 1, 1968, he was appointed Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Ley served as FDA commissioner for only a year and a half; he was ousted in December 1969.
His three years at the FDA came during the time when the FDA grew from an insignificant agency to the key agency protecting consumers; during that time 300 drugs were removed from the market. After he left, Ley stated that he had "constant, tremendous, sometimes unmerciful pressure" from the drug industry and that the drug company lobbyists, combined with the politicians who worked on behalf of their patrons, could bring “tremendous pressure” to bear on him and his staff, to try preventing FDA restrictions on their drugs. Ley complained that his agency faced budget shortfalls and lacked support from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and Congress; Ley was on the master list of Nixon political opponents.
An example of the clashes the FDA had with pressure groups, involved the drug company Upjohn and their patented drug Panalba. Panalba was a combination of tetracycline, an inexpensive and effective generic drug, with novobiocin, a more toxic antibacterial with a different spectrum of activity. Although Upjohn had been marketing the drug for 7 years, they had not done any of the required studies on the efficacy of it and so the FDA under Ley moved to decertify it. Ley met tremendous opposition from Upjohn.
The highest profile issue that Ley had to confront was sodium cyclamate. An artificial sweetener, it was originally brought to market as a flavoring ingredient in drugs, but in 1958, it was designated GRAS (generally recognized as safe) and its uses expanded, first into table sugars, then into many foods. By 1969 annual sales of cyclamate had reached $1 billion. However, by that time some animal studies had shown that very high doses of cyclamates, at levels of humans ingesting 350 cans of diet soda per day, led to higher rates of bladder cancer in rats. Amidst the growth of the environmental movement and its concern with chemicals, pressure mounted on the government to restrict the use of cyclamate. In October 1969, Department of Health, Education & Welfare Secretary Robert Finch bypassed Ley and the FDA, and removed the GRAS designation from cyclamate, banning its use in general purpose foods but keeping it available for restricted use in dietary products with additional labeling. In October 1970, a year after Ley left, the FDA banned cyclamate completely from all food and drug products in the United States.
Dr. Ley was ousted from his Commissioner post on December 12, 1969, and was replaced by Charles C. Edwards.
Reviews of his tenure
In accepting Ley's resignation, Secretary of HEW Finch praised him as a "gifted scientist and a dedicated public servant," saying that he had "coped strenuously with an unwieldy agency".
In September 1982, interviewed for the oral history program of the FDA History Office, Maurice D. Kinslow, Chairman of the committee and author of the final draft of the July 1969 "Kinslow report" characterized Dr. Ley as Commissioner: "Since I reported to him as a District Director and subsequently took on the special assignment , I had a lot of personal contact with him. I found him to be a very honest, decent person to work for. I respect Herb Ley; he was very different that either George P. Larrick or James L. Goddard , but I'm convinced he was dedicated to the best interests of the American public. And indeed, I believe that he got into significant trouble during his last days in the agency during the fall of 1969, in connection with the banning of cyclamates because he did what the Secretary told him to do (to not discuss the matter within the FDA). He was a good soldier."
After the FDA
After his resignation, in an interview to the New York Times, Dr. Ley warned the public about the FDA’s inability to safeguard consumers. People were being misled, he believed “The thing that bugs me is that the people think the FDA is protecting them - it isn’t. What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks it’s doing are as different as night and day,” he said.
On December 15, 1999, interviewed for the oral history program of the FDA History Office, Dr. Ley shared that from the first controversy in his tenure as FDA Commissioner he had a "gut feeling" that his life expectancy at the FDA was probably limited. He attributed this to the administration wishing that he would "stonewall" an Academy of Medicine report supporting removal from the market of many pharmaceutical products that had been approved between 1938 and 1962 based without proof of efficacy, and that his failure to do so adversely affected the financial interests of the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Herbert L. Ley Jr died of cardiovascular disease on July 22, 2001, at his home in Rockville, Maryland. He was 77. Survivors include two children from his first marriage, and a sister.
References
- ^ FDA History Office. Oral history of the U.S Food and Drug Administration - Herbert L. Ley, M.D.
- About FDA/Commissioner's Page (Page Last Updated: 06/04/2009) Herbert Ley Jr., M.D. 7/1/1968 - 12/12/1969 Biography. Food and Drug Administration Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- (June 07, 1968). NEW HEAD OF F.D.A. IS NAMED BY COHEH; Dr. Ley to Succeed Goddard -- 3 Other Posts Filled"... Dr. Herbert L. Ley Jr., director of the Food and Drug Administration's Bureau of Medicine since 1966.." . New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- ^ (December 12, 1969). DR. LEY LEAVING U.S. SERVICE TODAY; Ousted F.D.A. Commissioner Rejects Offer to Remain in New Government Post. New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- ^ Jennifer Ross-Nazzal. “From Farm to Fork”: How Space Food Standards Impacted the Food Industry and Changed Food Safety Standards page 226. NASA History Division. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- "Not all are convinced by sweet science". Archived from the original on 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
- Chedd, Grahm (May 9, 1974). "The Search for Sweetness". New Scientist. 62 (897): 299.
- Alex Gordon (April 29, 2003). The Delicate Dance of Immersion and Insulation: The Politicization of the FDA Commissioner footnote #26 . Harvard University DASH (Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard). Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- About FDA/Commissioner's Page Herbert Ley Jr., M.D. 7/1/1968 - 12/12/1969 Biography. FDA. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- ^ Washington Post, Obituaries (August 16, 2001). Herbert L. Ley Jr; Headed FDA in '60s. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- About FDA/Commissioner's Page (Page Last Updated: 06/04/2009) Herbert Ley Jr., M.D. 7/1/1968 - 12/12/1969 Biography. FDA. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- The FDA's History Office (September 16&18, 1982). Oral history of the U.S Food and Drug Administration - Maurice D. Kinslow, Director, Region IV, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Pages 52-54. FDA. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
- Richard D. Lyons (December 31, 1969). Ousted F.D.A. Chief Charges 'Pressure' From Drug Industry . New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- Oral Histories. FDA. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
External links
Categories:
- 1923 births
- 2001 deaths
- Commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration
- American bacteriologists
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni
- George Washington University faculty
- Harvard College alumni
- Harvard Medical School alumni
- Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel
- Nixon administration personnel