DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FDA chief steps down after 2 years on job
WASHINGTON — Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is stepping down after nearly two years leading the agency’s response to a host of public health challenges, including the opioid epidemic, rising drug prices and underage vaping.
Gottlieb cited “the challenge of being apart from my family” in Connecticut when announcing his departure Tuesday in a note to FDA staff. He’ll leave next month.
President Trump tapped Gottlieb in 2017 to “cut red tape” at the FDA. But Gottlieb bucked expectations by pushing the agency to expand its authorities in several key ways, including an unprecedented effort to make cigarettes less addictive by requiring lower nicotine levels.
MICHIGAN
Audi recalling about 75,000 cars, SUVs
DETROIT — Volkswagen’s Audi luxury brand is recalling nearly 75,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. because fuel leaks in the engine could cause fires.
The recall covers certain A6, A7 and Q7 SUVs from the 2016 through 2018 model years. Also included are A8 sedans from 2015 through 2018.
The company says in documents posted Tuesday by the U.S. government that parts of the fuel injection system can leak, and if the fuel hits an ignition source, it can catch fire. The documents didn’t list any fires or injuries.
NEVADA
First lady prods media to cover opioid crisis
LAS VEGAS — First lady Melania Trump prodded the news media on Tuesday to spend as much time highlighting the opioid epidemic at it devotes to “idle gossip or trivial stories.”
Mrs. Trump said she wished the media would talk about the epidemic more “and educate more children, also adults, parents, about the opioid crisis that we have in United States.”
She spoke during a town hall-style discussion in Las Vegas about the epidemic that claimed nearly 48,000 American lives in 2017.
NEW YORK
FDA: Some of Claire’s makeup has asbestos
NEW YORK — U.S. regulators on Tuesday warned people not to use certain Claire’s makeup products because tests confirmed they contained asbestos.
The Food and Drug Administration said Claire’s refused to comply with its request for a recall, and that the agency doesn’t have the power to force one. A representative for Claire’s did not immediately have a comment.
The FDA said the three products people shouldn’t use are Claire’s Eye Shadows, batch/lot No: 08/17; Claire’s Compact Powder, batch/lot No.: 07/15; and Claire’s Contour Palette, batch/lot No.: 04/17.
NY sailor who died at Pearl Harbor is ID’d
ALBANY — Pentagon officials say the remains of an American sailor from upstate New York who was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Tuesday that the remains of Charles M. Stern Jr., of Albany, have been accounted for.
Stern was a 26-year-old ensign assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma when the Japanese aerial attack on Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, sank the vessel as it was moored at Ford Island.
The Oklahoma was hit by multiple torpedoes and capsized. Stern and more than 400 other crewmembers were killed. The Navy spent the next three years recovering remains from the wreck. They were interred in nearby cemeteries. Stern’s remains were among those disinterred in 2015 in an attempt to identify the Oklahoma’s unknowns.
The Associated Press
