Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Marty Makary to head the FDA, the federal entity responsible for assuring the safety and effectiveness of medications, medical equipment, food products, and beauty products.
Makary, a surgical oncologist from Johns Hopkins University, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Thursday, March 6, for his confirmation hearing. If the Senate confirms him, he will be in charge of one of the country’s most important health organizations, overseeing the regulation of items ranging from vaccines to medications related to abortion.
Here’s a summary of what you should know about Makary.
He works at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Makary is the chief of islet transplant surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His research is largely focused on the root causes of disease and healthcare costs. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
He has made controversial statements about COVID-19 vaccine mandates
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary initially supported lockdown measures and mask-wearing. However, he later frequently appeared on Fox News, where he criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee, stated that while COVID-19 vaccine mandates ideally wouldn’t have been necessary, they were sensible during a global pandemic.
“Ideally, in a world that isn’t ours, anyone who analyzed the data for those vaccines would have been vaccinated,” Offit explains.
“Hospitals were overwhelmed. Nurses were using bandanas as masks and garbage bags as gowns,” he continued. “Vaccine mandates shouldn’t have been needed, but they seemed like a completely reasonable step at the time to increase vaccination rates.”
Some estimates suggest that COVID-19 vaccines prevented nearly 140,000 deaths in the U.S. during the first five months of their availability.
While Makary hasn’t openly endorsed the anti-COVID-19 vaccine sentiments expressed by his potential superior, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, he has criticized public health officials in former President Joe Biden’s Administration for “implementing a vaccine mandate that disregarded natural immunity.” In an opinion piece published in February 2021, Makary asserted that the U.S. was approaching herd immunity, predicting that “COVID will largely disappear by April, allowing Americans to return to normal life.” However, several months after the article’s publication, COVID-19 cases increased as the Delta variant spread across the country. Soon after, the Omicron variant caused a surge in cases during the winter. Thousands of individuals died during these surges.
If confirmed as FDA commissioner, Makary would be responsible for overseeing the nation’s vaccine supply. In late February, members of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee learned that a March 13 meeting to determine the influenza strains for the next flu shot had been canceled. This meeting had been held annually since the late 1960s. Offit expresses hope that Makary will affirm the importance of external expert advisors, such as those on the vaccine advisory committee, during Thursday’s confirmation hearing.
He suggested the country’s food supply could be to blame for chronic health problems
Makary’s views on food align with those of Kennedy and his movement. He has indicated that chronic illnesses and diseases may be linked to food additives and other chemicals to which Americans are exposed. He has described the nation’s food supply as “poisoned.” Nutrition experts have criticized Makary’s statements, arguing that attributing chronic diseases solely to food is overly simplistic.
He has been accused of spreading misleading information on abortion
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, Makary stated on Fox News that fetuses between 15 and 20 weeks of gestation “will actually resist the instruments of abortion.” Reproductive rights advocates condemned Makary’s comments, accusing him of spreading misinformation.
If confirmed as the FDA commissioner, Makary would have considerable influence over mifepristone, a medication approved by the FDA for abortions more than 20 years ago. The Biden Administration supports access to the medication, but reproductive rights advocates fear that Makary could reverse these efforts and limit access to the drug if confirmed.
He’s been a vocal critic of federal health agencies
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary has called the FDA “broken,” claiming it is “mired in politics and red tape.” He argued that the agency needed “fresh leadership” to “promote scientific advancement, not hinder it.”
He has also accused the nation’s leading health agencies of neglecting chronic diseases, alleging without evidence that “the greatest perpetrator of misinformation has been the United States government with the food pyramid.”
