A senior American health official, who was seen as a guardrail against any future politicisation of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of life-saving vaccines, has resigned abruptly, citing Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s “misinformation and lies”.
Dr Peter Marks served as the FDA’s top vaccine official, and was lauded by Donald Trump for his role in Operation Warp Speed, the initiative that developed, manufactured and helped distribute the Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.
Late on Friday, however, various media outlets reported that Marks had been given the choice by a Health and Human Services (HHS) department official to either resign or be fired. The FDA is a key federal agency within HHS.
He chose to resign, reports The Guardian.
In a resignation letter, referring to Kennedy, Marks wrote: “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.”
Marks also issued a stark warning, according to media outlets who obtained the letter, saying: “Undermining confidence in well-established vaccines which have met the high standards for quality, safety and effectiveness – and 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.”
Kennedy has claimed he is not anti-vaccine, but for years he has led a movement to sow doubts about their safety and effectiveness. In 2021, a group then led by Kennedy called for the emergency approval of Covid-19 vaccines to be revoked, saying: “The current risks of serious adverse events or deaths outweigh the benefits.”
Studies later showed the claim was inaccurate.
During his confirmation process, Kennedy ultimately secured the votes of almost all Republican senators by promising he would not change the FDA’s system for approving vaccines.
But that system was overseen by Marks, who has been with the FDA since 2012 and oversaw the division’s approval process for vaccines, biotech and blood products.
The Wall Street Journal reported a statement on the resignation by an HHS official which said: “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.”
Marks’ departure comes a day after the Trump administration said it was laying off 10 000 employees at HHS.
In comments about the move posted on YouTube, Kennedy suggested his office was facing internal opposition from “defiant bureaucrats” who had stopped his office from gaining access to “closely guarded databases that might reveal the dangers of certain drugs and medical interventions”.
The Guardian has sought more information about Kennedy’s remarks but has not yet received a comment from HHS.
Some experts have warned that Kennedy and other senior Trump-appointed health officials may seek to challenge the authorisation behind the Covid-19 vaccines.
Kennedy also said in his confirmation hearings that he had been asked by Trump to study the safety of mifepristone, which is used for medication abortion and has already been extensively investigated for safety.
It is not clear what precise databases Kennedy was referring to in his YouTube statement.
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Is vaccination approaching a dangerous tipping point?
Vaccine hesitancy — one of the world's top 10 health threats
Kennedy’s conflicting advice leave US doctors frustrated
Measles jab a personal choice, says Kennedy after child’s death