A senior Trump administration official has passed away. Daniel Best was an HHS appointee tasked with overseeing the administrations efforts to lower drug prices for Americans.
According to The Washington Examiner:
Daniel Best, the health official overseeing the Trump administration’s efforts to lower drug costs, has died, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday.
“It is with tremendous sadness that I learned of the passing of our friend and colleague,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. “I had the great privilege to know Dan Best for the past decade. He joined me here at HHS out of a desire to serve the American people by making healthcare more affordable. He brought his deep expertise and passion to this task with great humility and collegiality. All of us who served with Dan at HHS and in the administration mourn his passing and extend our thoughts and prayers to his wife Lisa and the entire Best family at this difficult time.”
The administration did not disclose a cause of death, and HHS said it did not have any additional comments.
Best, a former CVS executive, joined HHS in March 2018 to work on drug pricing policies. Best had served as the corporate vice president of industry relations for CVS Health’s Medicare Part D business, and before that was at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals for 12 years.
Best was tasked with using his experience to advise HHS Secretary Alex Azar on drug pricing reform issues.