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US FDA Center Directors Are Political Now

 
• By Michael McCaughan

The forced departure of CBER Director Peter Marks is a milestone event for the agency, as center directors now are likely to be treated as political positions subject to change with each new administration.

New administrations or FDA commissioners now could expect center directors to leave their posts. (Shutterstock)
Key Takeaways
  • The forced resignation of CBER Director Peter Marks is precedent-setting by making FDA center directors more like political appointees.
  • If the Trump Administration installed a CBER director aligned with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s views, that person may not be able to remain in the job after Kennedy leaves the administration or a Democratic president is elected.
  • The FDA commissioner used to be treated as a career position until the Nixon Administration.

The forced resignation of Peter Marks, the director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, is the latest in a series of disruptive actions raising red

But the move also is precedent-setting and likely to establish a new norm for the FDA for decades to come

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