The Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine regulator was forced out of the agency Friday and sharply criticized Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his boss at the Department of Health and Human Services.
"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. Peter Marks wrote in his letter of resignation, which was obtained by NPR.
Marks has long steered the FDA's regulation of vaccines as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. He became especially well known during the first Trump administration for his work with Operation Warp Speed, which was credited with the fast development of COVID-19 vaccines.
In response to Mark's resignation, an HHS official released a statement that if 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."
The abrupt departure comes as concern has been mounting among many public health experts about moves involving vaccines under Kennedy, who has questioned vaccine safety and effectiveness. Independent federal vaccine advisory committees have been postponed and cancelled, the National Institutes of Health has terminated research on vaccines and a vaccine critic has been picked to conduct a controversial study about vaccines and autism – a link that has long been debunked.
Marks cited special worry about the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, which has now grown to at least 400 cases. Measles can cause a long list of potentially serious complications and the vaccines provide strong, safe protection, Marks said. Kennedy has promoted alternative treatments during the Texas outbreak.
"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," Marks wrote in his resignation letter to Sara Brenner, acting commissioner of food and drugs.
The announcement was met with disappointment by other doctors.
"In forcing Peter Marks to resign, RFK Jr. is now the wolf guarding the hen house," said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the University of Pennsylvania and long-time FDA advisor who directs the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
It's "a sad day for America's children," Offit, who sometimes disagreed with Marks, said in an email to NPR.
Marks was praised by other experts as well.
"Peter's commitment to bringing the best science and data to the development and availability of lifesaving biomedical technologies, from gene and cell therapies to the Trump Administration's Operation Warp Speed, has saved countless lives," Dr. Mark McClellan, a former FDA commissioner under President George W. Bush now at Duke University wrote in a statement to NPR. "His decade-long leadership at the FDA is a big reason why the FDA is the gold standard for advancing the most innovative breakthrough medicines."
"Peter Marks is one of the most brilliant, dedicated scientists and public servants," wrote Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health who served as President Biden's COVID-19 response coordinator.
Marks said he was leaving the agency with "a heavy heart."
"I leave behind a staff of professionals who are undoubtedly the most devoted to protecting and promoting the public health of any group of people that I have encountered," he wrote, adding that he had tried to work with Kennedy in a variety of ways.
Marks added that he hoped "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."
Edited by Jane Greenhalgh
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