A top Federal Drug Administration (FDA) official resigned on Friday, becoming the third high-ranking employee to leave the agency this year amid a worsening measles outbreak.
Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, submitted his resignation letter to FDA Acting Commissioner Sara Brenner, citing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy’s “misinformation and lies” about vaccines.
“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary,” Marks wrote. “Efforts currently being advanced by some on the adverse health effects of vaccination are concerning.”
Marks joined the FDA as deputy director in 2012 and was promoted to director in 2016. His responsibilities included improving the country’s blood supply, researching cell and gene therapy, and responding to public health emergencies.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led Operation Warp Speed, a federal initiative aimed at immunizing people against the virus. Despite his efforts, he was given the option of resigning or being fired, two anonymous sources told The Washington Post.
Earlier this week, the same outlet reported that David Geier, a vaccine skeptic, had been chosen to lead a study looking into possible links between autism and immunizations.
Marks expressed concerns about the undermining of vaccine science, particularly in light of measles outbreaks in the United States. Kennedy has stated that receiving a measles vaccine is a personal decision, and he has encouraged the use of vitamin A as a treatment. While vitamin A can help someone who has become ill, experts say it is not a replacement for measles vaccination.
“It is unconscionable with measles outbreaks to not have a full-throated endorsement of measles vaccinations,” Marks told The Post.
Measles had been eliminated in the United States since 2000. Last year, it killed over 100,000 unvaccinated children in Africa and Asia.
Marks stated that he worked to address Kennedy’s concerns about vaccine development by soliciting public feedback and organizing a series of public meetings and engagements with the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
“Though rarely followed by a single fever-related seizure, or very rarely by allergic reactions or blood clotting disorders, the vaccine very simply does not cause autism, nor is it associated with encephalitis or death,” Marks said of the measles vaccine. “It does, however, protect against a potential devastating consequence of prior measles infection.”
Though Marks has stated that he will no longer be part of the agency’s mission, he hopes that in the coming years, “the unprecedented assault on scientific truth that has adversely impacted public health in our nation comes to an end so that the citizens of our country can fully benefit from the breadth of advances in medical science.”
Marks is the FDA’s third top leader to resign this year. Patrizia Cavazzoni, the agency’s drug chief, and Jim Jones, the human foods chief, both resigned.
Kennedy was confirmed last month after an at times contentious confirmation hearing.
During the hearing, Kennedy downplayed his opposition to vaccines, telling congressional members that he is “pro-safety” rather than “anti-vaccine.”
“I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care,” he said.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent, questioned Kennedy, asking if he agreed with evidence that vaccines do not cause autism.
Kennedy answered, “If you show me those studies, I will absolutely—”
Sanders interrupted him, saying, “That is a very troubling response because the studies are there. Your job is to have reviewed those studies as an applicant for this position.”
