Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar appointed advisers Thursday to tackle the opioid epidemic and prescription drug prices, two areas he has said will be a priority for the agency.
Azar appointed Daniel Best, a former CVS executive, as senior adviser for Drug Pricing Reform, where he will “lead the initiative to lower the high price of prescription drugs.”
“Daniel Best recognizes what President Trump and I, and every American know: prescription drug prices are too high,” Azar said in a statement announcing the appointment. “He has the deep experience necessary to design and enact reforms to lower the price of medicines that help Americans live healthier and longer lives.”
Azar also expanded the role of his assistant secretary, Dr. Brett Giroir. In addition to that role, Giroir will be senior adviser on Mental Health and Opioid Policy, where he will coordinate HHS’s efforts across the Trump administration to combat the opioid epidemic.
“Brett Giroir, our assistant secretary for health, will use his exceptional talents to tackle our country’s crisis of opioid addiction and overdose,” Azar said. “His experience coordinating major projects within the federal government will bring new focus to our efforts on this issue.”
Best recently served as the corporate vice president of industry relations for CVS Health’s Medicare Part D business, and before that was at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals for 12 years.
Azar, in addition to having worked at HHS before, also is a former executive for a pharmaceutical giant . The former Eli Lilly executive faced sharp questions from Democrats during his confirmation hearings about whether his previous ties with the industry undermined his stated commitment to reducing drug prices.
Giroir is a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the former director of the Defense Sciences Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. His work has helped quicken the development of vaccines and treatments for the flu and other infectious diseases, according to HHS.
HHS also said it would be announcing appointments for healthcare payment reform, another administration priority, in the weeks ahead.
