Senate confirms Robert Califf as head of FDA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed President Barack Obama's nominee to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday despite frustration over the agency's response to the abuse of opioid painkillers.

With only a year left in Obama's presidency, Califf will be tasked with wrapping up many of the administration's initiatives at the agency, including unfinished tobacco regulations and food safety and labeling reforms.

Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Ed Markey of Massachusetts held up Califf's nomination for several weeks in an effort to force the agency to be tougher on opioids and also prescription drug prices.

In 2014, U.S. deaths linked to misuse and abuse of prescription painkillers climbed to 19,000, the highest number on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"There isn't a place I go in my state where I don't hear from a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, a grandmother, a grandfather, a friend about someone who lost a loved one, lost someone they care about, because of heroin, opioids, Fentanyl, the deadly combination that is killing people," she said.