William K. Hubbard, a former associate commissioner at the FDA, said that he has heard all of the buzz but that it's way too early to take any of it seriously. In his experience, the head of the FDA typically isn't named until spring at the earliest, after deputy commissioners and general counsel jobs are filled inside HHS.
It is possible the appointment could happen more quickly this time, since the FDA and its troubles have been in the news over the past year. Problems have ranged from contaminated heparin doses from China to melamine in imported pet food to a salmonella outbreak that took weeks to contain.
Still, Hubbard said, someone like Sharfstein - a doctor with experience in policymaking and management - could appeal to the new administration.
"He fits a lot of the key criteria," Hubbard said. "He's a physician. He's a Democrat. He worked for a key Democrat in Congress. He's not a Clinton re-tread. He's a new face. He represents change."
Sharfstein, who grew up in Montgomery County, is the son of two doctors and is married to another one, Yngvild Olsen, medical director of the Harford County Health Department. They have two sons, ages 6 and 8.
Sharfstein has tackled health policy since his medical training. He was 24 when a paper on American Medical Association political contributions - co-written with his father - was published by the New England Journal of Medicine. Seven more peer-reviewed articles followed.
He volunteered at the FDA, writing and editing portions of the agency's legal argument to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug. In Waxman's office, Sharfstein worked on various pieces of legislation related to the FDA, including one that forced the agency to regulate nonprescription colored contact lenses not as cosmetics but as medical devices.
As Baltimore's health commissioner, Sharfstein has gone after the hazard of lead, banning its use in eyeliner and in candy and jewelry sold in the city. He also took on the makers of cough and cold medicines, convincing the FDA that there was little proof that the drugs worked in children under the age of 4 and evidence that they could cause harm.
He is also a backer of the use of buprenorphine as a treatment for heroin addicts, and the city Health Department says heroin overdoses are down. But critics say addicts using what is known as "bupe" may be no better off than those using methadone.
