‘I didn’t leave the FDA. The FDA left me’

A year after DOGE’s cuts, six FDA staffers describe the work they never thought they’d leave. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

May 9, 2026 Check out STAT+

Sponsored By

Alex Hogan/STAT STAT+ | What was lost at the FDA As agency hires for 3,200 cut jobs, six former regulators discuss work they thought they'd never leave. "I didn't leave the FDA. The FDA left me." By Lizzy Lawrence Laura Weiler for STAT Immigration changes are driving foreign researchers to leave the U.S. — or not come to begin with  In survey of NIH-funded researchers, 14% said immigration changes had forced scientists, students, postdocs to turn down jobs in their labs. By Andrew Joseph Camille MacMillin/STAT STAT+ | OpenAI wants to ‘have their cake and eat it too’ with health AI policy recommendations Policy recommendations in OpenAI's blueprint for unlocking AI’s potential to change healthcare are reasonable, but also self-serving, experts say. By Brittany Trang Cruise ship hantavirus outbreak worries experts, though they discount pandemic fears Isolation and contact tracing needed to contain lethal hantavirus outbreak as scientists probe human-to-human spread aboard a cruise ship. By Helen Branswell STAT+ | Opinion: Ambiguous loss: a peculiar kind of grief in dementia care Dementia leads to a grief known as ambiguous loss. American medicine and culture need to talk about it. By Jason Karlawish Opinion: Dr. Glaucomflecken wants to make a stink Will Flanary, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken, talks advocacy, cosmetic eye surgery, and ‘Scrubs’ on the “First Opinion Podcast.” By Torie Bosch STAT+ | Even at a meeting in Rome, FDA shifts are top of mind for gene therapy field At a Rome conference, biotech leaders warn FDA shifts are rattling gene therapy, as Europe pitches flexibility and the field eyes a recovery. By Andrew Joseph Opinion: Eugene Braunwald, ‘father of modern cardiology,’ told me he had two dreams. One came true Eugene Braunwald, who was widely recognized as 'the father of modern cardiology,' died on April 22 at the age of 96. By Lawrence K. Altman

More around STAT

Check out more exclusive coverage with a STAT+ subscription Read premium in-depth biotech, pharma, policy, and life science coverage and analysis with all of our STAT+ articles.

---

Enjoying Weekend Reads? Tell us about your experience Continue reading the latest health & science news with the STAT app Download on the App Store or get it on Google Play

STAT, 1 Exchange Place, Boston, MA ©2026, All Rights Reserved. I no longer wish to receive STAT emails

Update Newsletter Preferences     •    Contact Us     •    Advertise with Us     •    View in Browser