“Human life is not disposable, but a precious gift from God, with inherent worth and dignity.” It’s encouraging to learn that the author of those words, Dr. Heidi Overton, is reportedly one of three candidates under consideration to become the next commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

The FDA’s recent turmoil was driven in part by outrage over its handling of rare disease treatments. Whoever inherits that agency, 30 million people living with rare diseases (half of them children) deserve to know whether they should expect meaningful reform.