Susan F. died on January 17 at her home in London. She was 66 years old.
Her husband, Richard Payne, said the reason is that glioblastoma is polymorphic, which is a type of brain cancer.
Dr. Wood was president of George W. Bush, and during George W. Bush’s presidency, Dr. Wood was at George W.
The FDA advisory group voted 28-0 for the drug to be safe for use in 2003. But senior agency officials ignored precedents and refused to approve over-the-counter sales.
Plan B contains high levels of progesterone, a hormone found in common birth control pills, and agent scientists believe it is a birth control pill. But abortion opponents believe its use is a barrier to ending pregnancy. They further warned that ready-made access would lead to promiscuity in teenagers, although there is no data to support the claim.
Dr. Wood and others believe that emergency contraception available without a prescription will mean fewer unnecessary pregnancy and fewer abortions.
In August 2005, FDA Commissioner Lester M. Crawford announced that the agency could not decide whether to authorize over-the-counter use Plan B and did not want to be reached as soon as possible.
Dr. Wood blamed politics in the footsteps of the institution and quit her five years of work. In an email to staff, she wrote that she “when scientific and clinical evidence is fully evaluated and recommended for professional staff approval, the scientific and clinical evidence has been rejected.”
Later that year, a report from the Government Accountability Office was a nonpartisan investigation unit in Congress, and found that top agency officials rejected over-the-counter sales even before the scientific review of Plan B was completed. Officials objected to the findings.
Dr. Wood addressed the American Association for Scientific Development in 2006, where she received applause. She criticized the FDA for ignoring science because “social conservatives have a great influence.”
Born on November 5, 1958 in Jacksonville, Florida, Susan Franklin Wood is one of four children of surgeon Jonathan Wood, and the one who manages the house. Betty (Dorscheid) Wood.
She graduated from the Bishops’ School in Jacksonville in 1976 and in 1980 from Memphis (now Rhodes College). After obtaining a Ph.D. In 1989, she received her PhD in biology from Boston University, shifting her focus to health policy.
In 1990, she received a scholarship from the scientific advisor of the Congressional Caucus on Women’s Problems on Bipartisans. During her five years on Capitol Hill, she helped push legislation to increase women’s representation in clinical trials and expand research on breast cancer, infertility and contraception.
In 1995, she became Policy Director for the Office of Women’s Health of the Department of Health and Human Services. She joined the FDA in 2000 to lead the Women’s Health Department.
Dissent to approve Plan B’s over-the-counter sales plan whether young teens should be used. Barr Laboratore, the manufacturer of the drug, proposes to limit sales to people aged 16 and older.
Dr. Wood recalls her oral history recorded for the agency in 2019, recalling that senior FDA officials told Dr. Wood that the drug is expected to win over-the-counter approval for 17 years and older.
“I heard it with my little ears,” she said. “Everyone is waiting for the decision.”
“However, this decision was never made,” she added.
On Friday afternoon, Dr. Crawford announced that the age limit for over-the-counter sales in pharmacies will be difficult to manage. He said the issue requires more research. At the same time, over-the-counter use was not approved for anyone.
Dr. Wood quits next Tuesday. She hoped that most of her decisions would not be noticed. Instead, the news media reported it immediately.
“I ended up spending a while in the next eight months,” she said. “It affected the perception of whether you could trust the government at the time. ”
In 2006, Dr. Wood joined the Milken School of Public Health at George Washington University as a professor of research. She became a full professor in 2017, where she served as director of the Jacobs Institute for Women’s Health. She and her husband moved to Moor Island in Scotland in 2017 and have a second residence in London. She continues to teach remotely until she retires in 2022.
In addition to her husband, she also survived a daughter, Bettie Wood Payne.
The scope of Plan B finally disappeared, overshadowed by more controversial abortion political incidents. Plan B eventually won over-the-counter approval in 2013, although some states allowed pharmacists to refuse to distribute it.
Dr. Wood said in 2019 that worrying about easy access to morning medicines would become “dangerous, radical, crazy” things proved to be exaggerated. ”
“Once it’s on the counter, it’s no big deal,” she said. “And, sure enough, that’s what happened: it’s no big deal.”
