Mutual mistrust: FDA staff wary as Høeg becomes top drug regulator

WASHINGTON — In 2008, Tracy Beth Høeg, then a resident physician and ultramarathon runner, expressed dismay at vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s denial of climate change. 

“To stare such abundant scientific evidence in the face and make the blanket statement that you don’t believe it,” Høeg wrote on her blog. “What will the future of the planet be in the hands of someone who bases their decisions on belief rather than scientific evidence?”

Seventeen years later, as the top drug regulator in the United States, Høeg faces accusations from staff at the Food and Drug Administration of doing the very same thing. 

On Monday, Høeg will become acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. It’s a role where dispassionately reviewing complicated scientific evidence about the benefits and harms of medical treatments is paramount. Høeg, her bosses, and former colleagues say she is up to the task. But in her nine months as scientific adviser to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, Høeg’s track record has raised questions about her ability to oversee drug regulation without bias.