As FDA Commissioner, will you put science and public health ahead of politics?

At the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee hearing on the nomination of Dr. Stephen Hahn to serve as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) asks whether as Commissioner, Dr. Hahn will put science and public health ahead of politics and political donations, especially when it comes to the vaping crisis.

We know that more than five million high schoolers are addicted to nicotine through vaping products and in the two months Congress has been waiting for the FDA to issue guidance on banning vaping flavors, 35 more people have died as a result of vaping-related lung illness. In September, President Trump and Secretary Azar said they’d regulate flavored e-cigarettes. Just three days after the HELP Committee heard from the FDA and CDC officials that flavored e-cigarettes are driving youth vaping rates, news reports now indicate that the Administration may no longer act on banning flavors. Senator Romney: "Is the FDA, under your leadership, able and willing to take action which will protect our kids whether or not the White House wants you to take that action?"