Sweeping changes in health policy under the incoming Trump administration, and under the likely leadership of vaccine denier Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will bring disruption and uncertainty to an agency currently “performing at peak levels,” the outgoing head of the federal Food and Drug Administration Drug Administration (FDA). FDA) has warned.
Robert Califf said Tuesday night at the Friends of Cancer Research annual meeting in Washington, DC, that he was personally disappointed by the election results and that FDA staff “put their heads down and did their jobs” in anticipation of the turmoil Trump would cause . has indicated.
The president-elect has pledged to allow RFK Jr, a conspiracy theorist with a range of radical and unorthodox views on public health, to “run wild” about food and medicine in an as-yet unspecified role in his second administration.
Related: Why the Trump administration will be bad for Americans’ health
Kennedy has claimed that Trump has assured him control of a wide range of public health agencies, including the FDA, and Reuters reported that he has already reviewed resumes and made recommendations for top health care jobs.
Califf, who served separate terms as FDA commissioner under Barack Obama and Joe Biden, did not mention Kennedy by name but said he expected Trump to make good on his promise to shake up public health policy.
“It is not right for me to make specific comments about what exactly will happen,” he said.
“But I think it’s pretty clear that the essence of this administration, based on everything that’s been said, is that a lot of things need to change. How this changes depends on who is appointed to key positions and how the various policy measures work out.
“I’m biased, but I feel like the FDA is performing at a top level right now, and we’ll see what happens when a new team comes in.”
Califf was asked whether he expected a mass exodus of staff following Kennedy’s promise to “clean out” entire departments of the FDA that he claimed, without evidence, are rife with corruption, conflicts of interest and ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
“People are waiting for it,” he said. “From the things that have been said, it appears that the change can happen internally or externally, through decisions of the administration. We have to wait and have some confidence that there will still be high quality, hardworking people who will, I hope, get support from the external regulated community.
“Talking back and forth about hypotheticals isn’t productive for anyone. I would just like to say that I want to stand behind the people who work at the FDA, they are good people. They work hard and want the best for the American public. I have no doubt about that.”
Kennedy, whose own independent presidential campaign was partially destroyed by bizarre stories including having part of his brain eaten by a worm, has risen to prominence within Trump’s transition team. The Republican president-elect has chosen not to back away from Kennedy’s pledge to remove tooth-strengthening fluoride from drinking water or to revive investigations into debunked theories about the supposed dangers of childhood vaccines, which he has long opposed.
Califf listed the essential qualities he believed the next FDA commissioner should have. “The ability to function as a leader will be very important, the ability to listen to people with diverse points of view and learn and learn in a new environment, and then make executive decisions,” he said.
“But at the same time, I would say that hopefully it will be someone who understands the really crucial role of high-quality evidence in everything we do, and has the confidence that there is such a thing as expertise.
“Because I feel like a lot of what’s up for debate in our society right now, should we make decisions based on how we feel at any given moment, rather than analyzing things and coming up with an opinion?
“The lack of experts, I think historically in any society, has been a reason for the demise of that society.”
