Brief: Collapse at the FDA (Conspirituality podcast)

The FDA is bleeding out Covid contrarians. Marty Makary, Vinay Prasad, Tracy Beth Høeg—all gone. Jonathan Howard returns to discuss why so many RFK Jr's friends have reached the end of their bureaucratic road.

Interview: 

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/brief-collapse-at-the-fda-jonathan-howard

Marty Makary departs FDA after clashes with Trump over fruit-flavored vapes

Waves of layoffs and the appointment of inexperienced officials have created a “massive upheaval that has been an ongoing feature of daily work at FDA ever since the new administration began”, Lurie said. “It’s just endless chaos.”…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/12/marty-makary-fda-trump-administration

 

The FDA is a complete mess’: Trump makes fate of agency chief unclear as public trust plummets

Makary’s tenure at the FDA has been marked by several controversial decisions on drugs and vaccines amid plummeting staff morale over layoffs and the appointments of divisive officials. Recent political clashes include abortion, drugs and vaping, but decisions to pull back publications on the safety of shingles and Covid vaccines, among other immunization decisions, have also rocked public health. There have also been concerns about the transition from two clinical trials to one, the commissioner’s new priority review vouchers and “data-free” regulatory decisions...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/09/marty-makary-fda-food-drug-administration

 

The FDA has approved the sale of fruit-flavored vapes. What's behind the shift? : NPR

The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump called FDA Commissioner Marty Makary over the weekend and urged him to approve the products. Mitch Zeller is here to explain the science and the process behind this...

 https://www.npr.org/2026/05/07/nx-s1-5813637/the-fda-has-approved-the-sale-of-fruit-flavored-vapes-whats-behind-the-shift

FDA backs away from RFK Jr.’s claims about drug’s promise for autism patients - POLITICO

The Food and Drug Administration does not have sufficient evidence to back the use of the generic drug leucovorin for treating children with autism, two senior agency officials told reporters Monday...

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/10/fda-backs-away-from-rfk-jr-s-claims-about-drugs-promise-for-autism-patients-00820221 

 

GOP senators rail at FDA after closed-door briefing on abortion drug

Anti-abortion activists, tired of waiting, have threatened to withhold resources from the GOP in the upcoming midterm elections if they don't see action on the drugs...

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/02/11/congress/bitter-pills-00775740 

 

FDA Commissioner pretends that we’re doing new analysis in clinical trials

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2TWu_4gd-ik

FDA's Marty Makary again floats COVID-19 lab leak theory

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary again promoted a conspiracy theory about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Wednesday of funding the lab that created the virus...

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5429695-fda-marty-makary-nih-covid-19/ 

 

Trump’s health nominees want Covid vindication. Here's how their critique has aged. - POLITICO

Herd immunity "was a bad idea then and a bad idea now," said Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association. "You have a higher risk of complications from an acute [Covid] infection." 

There's a misconception that achieving herd immunity was ever possible, according to Offit…

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/02/trump-health-picks-covid-00192011