New director appointed for US FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products

The US Food and Drug Administration is replacing the head of its tobacco governance group with a former associate commissioner with ties to an anti-smoking advocacy group and a pharmaceutical company, according to a story by Richard Craver for the Winston-Salem Journal.

Mitch Zeller J.D. is due to become director of the Center for Tobacco Products on March 4, replacing Dr. Lawrence Deyton, who is stepping down to become a professor of medicine and health policy at George Washington University.

The FDA began regulating tobacco products and marketing in June 2009.