Next FDA chief to face similar headwinds after Makary's ouster |
Next FDA chief to face similar headwinds after Makary’s ouster
Marty Makary’s resignation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may help release some pressure by removing one of the Trump administration’s more embattled health leaders.
But the next head of the agency will have to navigate many of the same headwinds — political interference, funding cuts and balancing the demands of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement with the MAGA White House — that Makary faced.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing untested peptides with virtually no restrictions. Anti-abortion leaders and lawmakers want the agency to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
And after meeting with executives from Reynolds American, President Trump reportedly pressed Makary to approve flavored electronic cigarettes.
The next commissioner will inherit an FDA that’s viewed as less trustworthy and more politicized than it has been in any previous administration.
Lawrence O. Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said Makary did not push back against political interference from the White House or Kennedy, and that at times, he actively undermined the agency’s scientific integrity.
“The problem at FDA is not just one commissioner or one controversy. It’s the growing perception that scientific expertise is being subordinated to politics, instability and ideology,” Gostin said.
“While there have been periods of trust gaps with other agencies at HHS, the FDA is the oldest scientific agency. It’s the most revered and venerable, and yet there is profoundly eroding public trust in the institution,” and that’s a........