5 drug policy positions held by Trump's FDA pick, Dr. Scott Gottlieb

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, President Trump's pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration, would take over the agency at a high-stakes time when drug costs are a top concern to the public.If confirmed by the Senate as FDA commissioner, Gottlieb would face pressing questions of how to lower quickly rising prescription drug costs in a way that would be palatable to Republicans and to a president whose positions on the subject Gottlieb has criticized.

Gottlieb, who is a physician, former deputy FDA commissioner under President George W. Bush and a conservative health wonk at the American Enterprise Institute, declined to be interviewed by the Washington Examiner until after he is confirmed by the Senate. But he has written hundreds of articles in such publications as Forbes and The Wall Street Journal, which give strong clues as to how he might do his job as the country's top drug regulator.

Here are five of Gottlieb's positions on drug policy based on his writings:

1. To lower drug prices, regulators should ease the way for generics