Top FDA vaccine official resigns, citing Kennedy’s ‘misinformation and lies’
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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr also extolled the value of vitamin A as a treatment during a major measles outbreak in Texas.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Christina Jewett, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Noah Weiland
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WASHINGTON - The US Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official, Dr Peter Marks, abruptly resigned on March 29, saying in a searing letter that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s aggressive stance on vaccines was irresponsible and posed a danger to the public.
“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,” Dr Marks wrote to Ms Sara Brenner, the agency’s acting commissioner.
Dr Marks resigned under pressure, according to a person familiar with the matter, who said an official with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told Dr Marks on March 28 that he could either resign or be fired.
Hours earlier in West Virginia, Mr Kennedy asserted that Covid-19 did not kill healthy people, contrary to research showing that 30 per cent of those who died early in the pandemic did not have underlying conditions.
Mr Kennedy has also extolled the value of vitamin A as a treatment during a major measles outbreak in Texas, while downplaying the value of vaccines.
Dr Marks noted in his letter that he had been willing to address Mr Kennedy’s concerns
“Undermining confidence in well-established vaccines that have met the high standards for quality, safety and effectiveness that have been in place for decades at FDA is irresponsible, detrimental to public health, and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety and security,” Dr Marks wrote.
He went on to express his desire for the current administration’s damage to be limited
“My hope is that during the coming years, the unprecedented assault on scientific truth that has adversely impacted public health in our nation comes to an end so that the citizens of our country can fully benefit from the breadth of advances in medical science,” Dr Marks wrote.
He did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Andrew Nixon, the HHS spokesperson, issued a statement on the night of March 28 saying: “If Peter Marks does not want to get behind restoring science to its golden standard and promoting radical transparency, then he has no place at FDA under the strong leadership of Secretary Kennedy.” NYTIMES
