Top vaccine official resigns from FDA, criticizes RFK Jr. for selling misinformation, lies | EUROtoday

The prime vaccine official with the Food and Drug Administration has resigned and criticized the nation’s prime well being official for permitting “misinformation and lies” to information his considering behind the protection of vaccinations.

Dr. Peter Marks despatched a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner on Friday saying that he would resign and retire by April 5 as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

In his letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, Marks mentioned he was “willing to work” to deal with the considerations expressed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in regards to the security of vaccinations. But he concluded that wasn’t doable.

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” he wrote.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Marks was provided the selection of resigning or being fired by Kennedy, in keeping with a former FDA official aware of the discussions, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he didn’t have permission to debate the matter publicly.

Kennedy has an extended historical past of spreading anti-vaccine misinformation, though throughout his Senate affirmation hearings he appeared to say he wouldn’t undermine vaccines. He promised the chair of the Senate well being committee that he wouldn’t change current vaccine suggestions.

Since changing into commissioner, Kennedy has vowed to scrutinize the protection of childhood vaccinations, regardless of a long time of proof they’re secure and have saved thousands and thousands of lives.

Marks oversaw the company’s speedy assessment and approval of COVID-19 vaccines and coverings in the course of the pandemic.

Marks is credited with coining the title and idea for “Operation Warp Speed,” the trouble below President Donald Trump to quickly manufacture vaccines whereas they had been nonetheless being examined for security and efficacy. The initiative minimize years off the traditional improvement course of.

Despite the challenge’s success, Trump repeatedly lashed out on the FDA for not approving the primary COVID photographs even sooner. Trump informed confidants after his 2020 loss that he would have been re-elected if the vaccine had been out there earlier than Election Day.

Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine knowledgeable at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, criticized what he referred to as the “firing” of Marks.

“RFK Jr.’s firing of Peter Marks as a result of he wouldn’t bend a knee to his misinformation marketing campaign now permits the fox to protect the hen home,” Offit said. “It’s a sad day for America’s children.”

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said the issues raised in Marks’ resignation letter “should be frightening to anyone committed to the importance of evidence to guide policies and patient decisions.”

“I hope this will intensify the communication across academia, industry and government to bolster the importance of science and evidence,” he wrote.

The resignation follows news Friday that HHS plans to lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centers across the country.

In a post on social media Thursday, Kennedy criticized the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy.” He additionally faulted the division’s 82,000 employees for a decline in Americans’ well being.

The resignation is the most recent blow to the beleaguered well being company, which has been rocked for weeks by layoffs, retirements and a chaotic return-to-office course of that left many staffers with out everlasting workplaces, desks or different provides. Last month, Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for meals, resigned, citing “the indiscriminate firing” of almost 90 staffers in his division, in keeping with a replica of his resignation letter obtained by the AP.

Marks, who couldn’t be reached for remark, additionally raised considerations in his letter about “efforts currently being advanced by some on the adverse health effects of vaccination are concerning” in addition to the “unprecedented assault on scientific truth that has adversely impacted public health in our nation.”

He went on to element the historic advantages of vaccinations relationship again to George Washington and pointed to the continued measles outbreak as proof of what can occur when doubts about science take maintain.

“The ongoing multistate measles outbreak that is particularly severe in Texas reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined,” he wrote.

The measles outbreak, which may go on for months, has now unfold to Kansas and Ohio after sickening greater than 370 in Texas and New Mexico.

If it hits different unvaccinated communities throughout the U.S., as could now be the case in Kansas, the outbreak may endure for a yr and threaten the nation’s standing as having eradicated the native unfold of the vaccine-preventable illness, public well being specialists mentioned.

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Casey reported from Boston. Perrone reported from Washington, D.C.