President-elect Donald Trump on Friday appointed Dr. Marty Makary, a pancreatic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University who has made controversial claims about Covid, nominated as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Makary is the chief of Islet Transplant Surgery at Johns Hopkins, according to the university’s website. He also held leadership positions at the World Health Organization’s Patient Safety Program and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, part of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. He also served as a public advisor to the Paragon Health Institute, a conservative health care think tank, and appears regularly on Fox News.
“The FDA has lost the trust of Americans and has lost sight of its primary purpose as a regulator. The Agency has appointed Dr. Marty Makary, a highly respected Johns Hopkins surgical oncologist and health policy expert, to correct and reorient the Agency. Trump said on Truth Social.
“He will be led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Working to, among other things, properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics given to our nation’s youth so we can finally address the chronic childhood epidemic,” Trump said.
The position requires Senate confirmation. As FDA commissioner, Makary would be responsible for regulating and overseeing drugs, food, medical devices and other products, such as tobacco and cosmetics.
Makary has made some controversial statements in the past, especially about the pandemic. He said the federal government was the “biggest perpetrator” of disinformation during the pandemic.
He was in favor of natural immunity, saying it was “at least” as effective or even better than the immunity provided by vaccines, ignoring the risk of infections. He also argued that the country would achieve herd immunity by April 2021.
He claims that myocarditis, a rare heart condition, is more common after Covid vaccination than after Covid infection, a claim that has been debunked by several studies.
Dr. Marty Makary at a screening of the HBO documentary ‘Bleed Out’ in New York City, on December 12, 2018.
In 2023, he also wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal criticizing the Biden administration’s decision to recommend the Covid boosters for younger patients who are at lower risk. The idea that young, healthy people do not need additional Covid vaccines is now more widely accepted among the medical community.
If nominated and confirmed, Makary would potentially work under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump has picked to be secretary of Health and Human Services. The FDA is one of thirteen agencies under the purview of HHS.
The choice of Kennedy was heavily criticized by the medical and scientific community, given his controversial views when it comes to public health, including anti-vaccine activism.
Makary appeared on Fox News on Sunday and defended Kennedy, saying he is the least “terrifying” thing happening in the US health care system and that people shouldn’t “dissect” things Kennedy said “30 years ago.”
“He wants to tackle corruption in healthcare and corruption in our health agencies,” Makary said. “A lot of people don’t like that message and a lot of people are threatened by it.”
Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said Makary is not fit for the role of FDA commissioner given his past comments on Covid and defense of Kennedy.
“He is willing to lie to the American public,” Offit said. “What makes us think this is someone who should be running the FDA?”
The current FDA Commissioner is Dr. Robert Califf, a cardiologist who also served in this role during President Barack Obama’s second term.
Trump had two FDA commissioners during his first term: physician Dr. Scott Gottlieb and oncologist Dr. Stephen Hahn.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
