STAT

With Gottlieb’s resignation, the Trump administration loses its backroom whisperer on Capitol Hill

No one is better than Scott Gottlieb at selling the Trump administration’s health agenda on Capitol Hill. What happens when he's gone?
Source: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration just lost its most effective health policy salesman.

Scott Gottlieb, the charismatic FDA commissioner who announced this week he will step down in about a month, was better than any other administration official at selling key Trump administration policies — particularly those related to lowering prescription drug prices — on Capitol Hill, lawmakers and aides in both parties told STAT.

Gottlieb isn’t on television to of bringing down drug prices nearly as often as health secretary Alex Azar. Nor is his agency drafting many of the regulatory changes that have become the

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