Top US vaccine official Dr Peter Marks issues chilling warning in letter as he quits
In a swipe at the Trump administration, a top health expert has issued a warning about vaccine safety in his resignation letter.
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The top US vaccine official has issued a warning about growing “misinformation” in a resignation letter on Friday.
Dr Peter Marks, who has worked at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2012, cited the “concerning” vaccine efforts of the Trump administration in the letter, published by The Washington Post.
He was reportedly forced out of the FDA’s vaccine division as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes charge.
Dr Marks, who was part of the effort to roll out vaccinations during the Covid pandemic, said he had been “willing to work” with Mr Kennedy on vaccine safety.
However, Dr Marks determined that would not be possible, complaining of an “unprecedented assault on scientific truth” being pushed by Mr Kennedy and his supporters.
“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” he said.
Mr Kennedy is a vaccine sceptic who has long argued that vaccines are ineffective or trigger childhood disease.
Dr Marks continued, “Rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.
“My hope is that during 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.
“Though I will regret not being able to be part of future work at the FDA, I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a remarkable group of individuals as the staff at the FDA and will do my best to continue to advance public health in the future.”
President Donald Trump had been proud of the “Project Warp Speed” development of vaccines to help control the spread of Covid during his first term.
However, he appointed Mr Kennedy during his second term, despite 75 Nobel laureates urging the US Senate to oppose Mr Kennedy’s nomination.
A HHS spokesman responded to Dr Marks’ resignation by saying if he “does not want to get behind restoring science to its golden standard and promoting radical transparency, then he has no place at FDA under the strong leadership of Secretary Kennedy”, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Originally published as Top US vaccine official Dr Peter Marks issues chilling warning in letter as he quits
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