US senator calls for stronger ethics commitments from Trump deputy health secretary pick

By Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called on President Donald Trump's nominee for deputy U.S. health secretary to recuse himself from decisions related to former clients and employers in the healthcare industry for at least four years.

Jim O'Neil, a health policy adviser with ties to several healthcare companies, is up for confirmation by the Senate as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.

In a Monday letter to O'Neil reviewed by Reuters, Warren asked that he pledge to not seek compensation for four years after leaving office from any companies he regulated while serving, and to not lobby the health department or any of its agencies for the same amount of time.

O'Neil could not immediately be reached for comment.

"Your relationships with biomedical companies regulated by HHS will raise concerns about your impartiality in this role," wrote Warren, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee that will vote on advancing O'Neil's nomination for the Senate to confirm.

O'Neil is an ally of tech billionaire and erstwhile Trump-backer Peter Thiel and from 2012 to 2019 managed one of his venture capital firms, Mithril Capital Management. While at Mithril, he invested in biotechnology companies, some of which currently seek approvals for products from the Food and Drug Administration.

He also served as chief executive of his philanthropic Thiel Foundation and as a managing director at Thiel Capital.

O'Neil also advises and serves on the board of ADvantage Therapeutics which is developing an Alzheimer's drug that will require FDA approval. He has agreed to recuse from ADvantage's specific-party matters for one year or two years if he receives a bonus from the company, as required by law.

Prior appointees have voluntarily made ethics commitments beyond those required by laws and government regulations, Warren wrote, and so should he.

If confirmed, O'Neil would report to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who criticizes industry influence over health agencies, pointing to the "revolving door" of officials going on to work for companies they regulated. Kennedy promised "radical transparency" at the department.

(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)