The marketing of fruit-flavored vapes is at least
part of what prompted Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary to resign.
Politico first reported the resignation and Makary’s replacement.
Makary, who
led the agency for 13 months, formalized his departure via text message to the president, ending a period marked by internal tensions and criticism from the tobacco industry.
“A surgeon and health researcher, Makary came to prominence among Republicans as an outspoken critic of public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he frequently
appeared on Fox News Channel,” according to The Associated Press. “But he struggled to manage the FDA’s bureaucracy and failed to win the confidence of its
staff after mass layoffs, leadership upheavals and a series of controversies in
which the agency’s scientific principles appeared to be
overridden by political interests, including those of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr."
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President Donald
Trump signed off on a plan to fire Makary earlier this month, after the
president scolded the FDA chief for not approving fruit-flavored vapes,
according to The Wall Street Journal.
Makary’s 13-month tenure at the regulatory agency frequently drew the ire of the White House, Congress, industry and the
public, according to The Guardian.
The sale of
fruit-flavored e-cigarettes is a priority for donors and allies of the Trump administration.
The president appointed Kyle Diamantas, the current deputy food commissioner, as
interim FDA director. Diamantas, a 37-year-old corporate lawyer, assumed the
position immediately on May 13.
“Diamantas’s administration will focus on expediting stalled marketing authorizations and redefining the agency’s scientific review
standards,” according to ColumbiaOne. “On his first day in office, the new acting
commissioner inherited oversight of a $6.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2026, $3.6 billion of which comes from user fees paid by the industry itself.”