Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA), has announced that Randall Lutter, Ph.D., will serve as Acting Deputy Commissioner for Policy. Lutter will be replacing Dr. Scott Gottlieb who recently announced his resignation, effective late January 2007.

In this role, Lutter will provide guidance and input on all agency matters and serve as lead advisor to the Commissioner on agency policy.

“Randy has played a key role in the development and implementation of many of the agency’s highest priority initiatives,” said Dr. von Eschenbach. “The leadership he has shown in his current position as Associate Commissioner for Policy and Planning will ensure not only a smooth transition but also continued success in carrying out this agency’s mission.”


Lutter joined FDA in 2003 as Chief Economist in the Office of Planning and has most recently served as the Associate Commissioner of Policy and Planning where he coordinated the agency’s regulatory and administrative policies aimed at protecting and advancing the health of the public. In this capacity he has also served as a lead advocate for Administration, Department, and FDA policies and programs before the Congress and to the public, especially with respect to health risks associated with importation of drugs and challenges controlling counterfeit drugs.

Before joining FDA Lutter was a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute and fellow with the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies. From 1991 to 1997 he served at the Office of Management and Budget in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and from 1997 to 1998 he was senior economist for regulation and the environment at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Lutter is a graduate of Cornell University where he earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics.

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