Oct. 17 (UPI) — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that his nominee for drug czar, Rep. Tom Marino, withdrew his name from consideration.
The Washington Post and CBS’ “60 Minutes” television program jointly reported that Marino, R-Pa., supported legislation friendly to the pharmaceutical industry. The reports said a bill he advocated undermined efforts to limit the abuse of opioid-based pain pills.
The bill, the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act, limits the Drug Enforcement Administration’s efforts against drug distributors supplying black market narcotics to some doctors and pharmacists, the report said.
The law essentially made it impossible for the DEA to stop suspicious narcotics shipments from drug companies, Politico reported.
After the report, leading members of Congress urged Trump to reconsider Marino’s nomination as chief of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Marino’s confirmation would be “putting the wolf in charge of the hen house,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the senate floor Monday.
On Monday, Trump said “we’re going to be looking into” Marino’s actions, adding that he would withdraw the nomination if his findings are “one percent negative to what we want to do.”
Rep.Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar. Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!
On Tuesday morning. Trump tweeted that Marino asked that his name be withdrawn from consideration.
