Acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach -- who last week was nominated by President Bush to head the agency permanently -- on Saturday said he has not been ideologically "restrained or constrained" by the Bush administration regarding scientifically based decisions he has made, Reuters reports. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) have said they will place a hold on a confirmation vote for von Eschenbach in the Senate because of FDA's delay of a decision on Barr Laboratories' application for nonprescription sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B -- which can prevent pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse -- for girls and women ages 17 and older. Von Eschenbach, while answering reporters' questions at the Association of Health Care Journalists annual meeting in Houston, said, "Scientific activities do not occur in a vacuum. ... We need to continue the discussion and the deliberation of what are some of the implications of these scientific discoveries." He added that society also must have a say in the process. "We are moving toward an effort to bring the full fruits of this biomedical research enterprise to patients as rapidly ... as possible, ensuring the balance between what is effective and what is safe and what is appropriate." He declined to share his "vision" of FDA, saying he needs to speak to members of Congress first (Heavey, Reuters, 3/18).