Politicians

White House expected to name Sara Brenner, chief medical officer for in vitro diagnostics at CDRH and a veteran of first Trump administration, as acting commissioner, but lack of a formal announcement is creating uncertainty. New executive orders on telework and the senior executive service also could impact agency staff.

Former FDA commissioners Mark McClellan and Scott Gottlieb, former acting commissioner Janet Woodcock and current commissioner Robert Califf offered advice on successfully implementing reforms and preventing a mass exodus of FDA employees as inklings emerge that the Trump team is already engaged on this front.

FTC seeks comment on three proposals to “strengthen the agency’s tools to curb deceptive earnings claims in industries where they are pervasive: multi-level marketing programs and money-making opportunities.” However, Republican members say they’ll reconsider the proposals as a majority after Trump takes office.

The incoming Trump Administration’s “Department Of Government Efficiency” has big plans for sweeping cuts to the federal bureaucracy and regulation. The US FDA likely will feel some effects, but could avoid the most damaging mandates.

Martin Makary prides himself on following the data, but some health policy experts said his positions sometimes stray from or distort the evidence, which could create trust issues.

“The first time we have a contact with them, if and when someone complains, is not because you're in trouble, but you already have a pre-existing relationship,” says former Maryland state AG Doug Gansler.

President-elect Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS secretary could be a focal point of change for FDA’s approach to Congress.

The FDA's current leader, whose term will end with Donald Trump’s second inauguration, also described three qualities the agency’s next commissioner will need to succeed, including "believing that there is such a thing as expertise."

In the wake of a US presidential election that saw Donald Trump returned to power, the US Association for Accessible Medicines has called for the next administration to take action to help support the generics and biosimilars market.