STAT+: Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine regulator, forced out
Top FDA official Peter Marks was forced to resign as the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Peter Marks, the top Food and Drug Administration official who oversaw vaccines, gene therapies, and the blood supply, resigned Friday after being told by Trump administration officials he would be fired if he did not step down, according to people familiar with the situation.
In his resignation letter, which was obtained by STAT, Marks said that he had attempted to answer the concerns of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., regarding the safety of common childhood vaccinations.
“As you are aware, I was willing to work to address the Secretary’s concerns regarding vaccine safety and transparency by hearing from the public and implementing a variety of different public meetings and engagements with the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,” Marks wrote. “However, 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.”
