WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is struggling to select a new head of its drug center after the sudden and chaotic exit of the previous director, George Tidmarsh.

Richard Pazdur, the director of the FDA’s Oncology Center for Excellence, was approached about the job and turned it down, two sources told STAT. The Pink Sheet first reported the news, and also reported that Mary Thahn Hai, director of the Office of New Drugs, is uninterested in taking on the role. Pazdur and Thahn Hai did not respond to requests for comment.

On Friday, deputy FDA commissioner Sara Brenner sent an email opening the position up to employees within the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

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