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# Gottlieb Hits Federal Corona Virus Lack of Urgency
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/gottlieb-hits-federal-corona-virus-lack-of-urgency/
- Published: 2020-03-10T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:06:23.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Devices, #legacy-id-D5146294

Former FDA commissioner **Scott Gottlieb** says he had been calling for a fuller federal government response to the coronavirus public health emergency for the last six weeks. In a 3/9 session with the *USA Today* editorial board, Gottlieb [said](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/03/09/former-fda-chief-scott-gottlieb-warns-sharp-increase-u-s-coronavirus-cases/5003087002/?ref=fdaweb.com): “The mistake we made is we took a very linear approach rather than an all-of-the-above approach” to developing and deploying virus tests. He said the federal government should have coordinated with academic and private laboratories to begin testing sooner, rather than relying solely on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s test kits.

“There should have been, I think, a sense of urgency about taking an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach and trying to get all of the diagnostic players into the game as early as possible,” Gottlieb said. “We ended up doing all those things but we ended up doing them late. And now we’re still behind the curve.”

He said that due to the time it takes for private lab companies to ramp up and validate their testing, it could be another week or more before testing capacity can keep pace with new infections. “I was arguing for it six weeks ago,” he said.

He also said it is probably the case that there already are multiple, large outbreaks in major metropolitan areas that health officials are not aware of.