It would be overly optimistic to imagine that the FDA might get their brains out of their pants, and their hands out of the pockets of the industries that they are supposed to be regulating, and do the job for which they were created.

But President Obama has selected a new boss of the FDA. She sounds promising, and that she might actually care about public health.

From the NY Times:

President Obama intends to nominate Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, a former New York City health commissioner, to lead the Food and Drug Administration, sidestepping a battle between drug safety advocates and the drug industry, according to people briefed on the decision.

The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion.

The administration is likely to announce the decision this week, these people said. Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the health commissioner of Baltimore, who led the Obama administration’s transition team for the F.D.A., will become Dr. Hamburg’s chief deputy, these people said.

Dr. Hamburg, 53, succeeds Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, who led the beleaguered agency from 2005 until last January and often had to deflect critics who accused the Bush administration of letting politics play too forceful a role in science policy.

Her selection, first reported Wednesday on the The Wall Street Journal’s Web site, was hailed by top public health officials and experts.

And please note, the onion is smiling because it seems that we might finally be getting an FDA commissioner who cares about food. And that’s enough to bring a smile to the face of any onion.