President Donald Trump said Tuesday his US Food and Drug Administration chief, Marty Makary, is leaving his post, a departure that follows weeks of political tumult at the powerful agency.
During his tenure atop the sprawling body responsible for overseeing vaccines, medicine and food, Makary managed to upset figures across industry, politics and public health over a range of issues, and most recently faced pressure from the Republican president to sign off on fruit-flavored vapes.
"Marty is a terrific guy, but he's going to go on, and he's going to lead a good life," Trump said, speaking to journalists who pressed him on the reported resignation that comes after weeks of rumors that the president planned to fire his FDA commissioner.
Makary, a surgeon and former Fox News contributor, made waves during the Covid-19 pandemic as an outspoken critic of the medical establishment and the health measures of the time.
He took over the FDA promising reform. He leaves just over a year later, facing criticism from all angles, including from pharmaceutical executives, tobacco lobbyists, and anti-abortion activists.
Conservatives against the abortion pill mifepristone accuse Makary of taking too long to complete and issue a review of the drug that's been FDA-approved for 25 years, but which they continue to target.
The Trump administration meanwhile forged ahead with a policy allowing for the sale of flavored e-cigarettes despite resistance from Makary, who had voiced concern over the appeal of the vapes to youth.
Many pharmaceutical executives said Makary's initiatives to shake up the drug review process had only created more problems.
And public health leaders accused him of catering to anti-vaccine activists after the FDA put out an unsupported memo claiming deaths linked to the Covid-19 vaccine.
It's the latest in a string of shake-ups at the health department overseen by noted vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr, with figures seen as more conventional put forth as nominees to be surgeon general as well as helm the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
mdo/msp
