Scott Gottlieb was nominated to run the FDA in March 2017. Two years— and nearly 500 press announcements — later, the productive andhigh-profile commissioner is preparing to step down in early April 2019.

Gottlieb joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss why he's leaving FDA(starts at 1:30), his regulatory and communications strategy (4:40), hiswork on medical device safety (10:30), digital health (16:30), opioidabuse (19:15), the Trump administration's approach to science and thechoice of Ned Sharpless as acting FDA commissioner (24:25), whatGottlieb would've pursued if he had more time at FDA (26:30) and ifhe'll ever return to government (28:30).

MENTIONED ON THE SHOW

As commissioner, Gottlieb has received bipartisan praise for hisactivist agenda.

Gottlieb's aggressive moves as commissioner came as a surprise, givenhis pre-Trump administration reputation as someone with a free-marketbackground.

The conservative Washington Times cheered Gottlieb's departure,suggesting that he became "an avenging angel for the Nanny state" andpushed too much regulation on vaping.

Before rejoining FDA in 2017, Gottlieb was a frequent critic of itsactions, such as in a 2010 AEI column where Gottlieb urged FDA to becomemore transparent on drug company letters.

Gottlieb steered numerous reforms at FDA, including pushing an overhaulof medical device reviews.

FDA recently approved a powerful painkiller called Dsuvia, drawing somecriticism.

Gottlieb's January 2018 and November 2018 appearances on "Pulse Check."