An alleged extortion attempt, a petty yearslong grudge, shocking social media posts, and ominous text messages make up the latest scandal at the Food and Drug Administration, an agency that industry outsiders are calling a “clown show” and “soap opera” amid the Trump administration’s leadership, according to reporting by Stat News.
Federal health agencies, in general, have taken heavy blows in Trump’s second term. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in particular, has seen the abrupt dismantling of whole programs and divisions—teams that provide critical health services to Americans. CDC staff regularly describe being demoralized over the last year. Their Senate-confirmed director didn’t make it a full month before being dramatically ousted after allegedly refusing to rubber-stamp vaccine recommendations from a panel filled with vaccine skeptics by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert. F. Kennedy Jr.
While the CDC is in shambles, the FDA has turned into something of a sideshow, with concern mounting that it remains a serious enough regulator to keep America’s medicines and treatments modern and safe. Many of the scandals are tied to Vinay Prasad, the Trump administration’s top vaccine regulator, who also has the titles of chief medical officer and chief scientific officer. Prasad made a name for himself on social media during the pandemic as a COVID-19 response skeptic and, since joining the FDA, has been known for overruling agency scientists and sowing distrust, unrest, and paranoia among staff. He was pushed out of the agency in July only to be reinstated about two weeks later.