U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Scott Gottlieb on March 5 announced his planned resignation, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said, and plans to step down in one month.

Gottlieb won bipartisan support for his efforts to curb the use of flavored e-cigarettes by youths, speed approval times for cheap generic medicines to increase competition and bring down prescription drug prices and boost the use of cheaper versions of expensive biotech medicines, called biosimilars.

What this could mean in relation to dietary supplement regulatory modernization and the acceptance of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) as a food additive and/or nutritional supplement will come into question.

Natural Products Association President and CEO Daniel Fabricant, PhD, released the following statement in response to Gottlieb’s announcement: “We urge President Trump to consider a new leader for the FDA that will use the Agency’s enforcement powers to get tough on bad actors and lead on new areas like cannabidiol (CBD) and other promising natural products.  A lot of ideas were put in motion on trade, NDI intellectual property protection, and NDI enforcement, and we need a partner in government who can help bring those home for consumers and small businesses. We commend Commissioner Gottlieb for his service and look forward to working with the FDA during this transition. The U.S. has the safest nutritional supplements in the world because of collaborative efforts between our industry and federal regulators, and we are confident that collaboration will continue under new leadership.”