By Stephanie Kelly and Nathan Layne
(Reuters) – Newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to choose Johns Hopkins surgeon and writer Martin Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
Makary raised concerns about a number of public health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, praising natural immunity protections and opposing COVID vaccine mandates.
The FDA is the world’s most influential drug regulator with a budget of more than $7 billion. It is responsible for approving new treatments and ensuring they are safe and effective before they enter the largest and most lucrative market. It has regulatory powers over human and veterinary medicines, biological medicines, medical devices and vaccines.
The agency is also responsible for enforcing safety standards for food supplies, tobacco, cosmetics and products that emit radiation.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for Trump’s transition team, said he would not speculate or anticipate any announcement.
As FDA commissioner, Makary would report to the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
To lead HHS, Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nominee, an environmentalist who has spread misinformation about vaccine safety and one of several unconventional Trump picks for top administration jobs.
As a physician, Makary co-developed the Surgery Checklist, a routine for surgeons that improved patient outcomes and has been distributed around the world by the World Health Organization.
His most recent book, “Blind Spots,” was published in September. In interviews promoting the book, he spoke out against what he called “massive overtreatment” in the US, which he called “an epidemic of inappropriate care.”
He has advocated for a reexamination of the use of hormone replacement treatments in menopausal women, a reduction in the overuse of antibiotics, and reforms in medical education.
Makary, who lives in Baltimore, has served as a consultant for the conservative health care think tank Paragon Health Institute in Washington.
If confirmed by the Senate, he would be Dr. To succeed Robert Califf, a cardiologist and researcher who also served as FDA commissioner in the Obama administration.
In his second term, Califf revamped the agency’s food operations and inspection processes and sought to combat disinformation.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly, Nathan Layne and Michael Erman; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
