Breaking: Trump picks Johns Hopkins surgeon Makary to run FDA

BREAKING NEWS

Trump picks Johns Hopkins surgeon Makary to run FDA

By Lizzy Lawrence

Noam Galai/Getty Images for HBO

President-elect Trump has tapped Johns Hopkins surgeon Martin "Marty" Makary, a close ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to serve as the next commissioner of the FDA.

Makary has criticized and researched various flaws in the U.S. health care system throughout his career, from investigating deaths due to medical errors to calling out drugmakers for exploiting the FDA's rare disease drug program. He became a more controversial figure during the Covid-19 pandemic after calling compulsory masks for children "abusive," opposing vaccine mandates, and questioning whether the potential Covid vaccine risks outweighed the benefits for young people.

As a doctor and researcher, Makary may have an easier path to Senate confirmation. But both he and RFK Jr. will have to win over moderate Republicans, many of whom have stayed mum on how they will vote.

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