Public health advocates express concern about nominee to lead the FDA

Do we need another cultist running national health care policy?

Liz Szabo, MA

Heidi Overton (at right) during signing of the
executive order on childhood vaccines on August 10.
Credit: The White House

At an August press conference, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stood beside him when he described the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine as “quite lethal.” 

Heidi Overton, MD, a senior White House domestic policy adviser, had to defend her role in developing Trump’s executive order on vaccines—and her choice not to correct Trump’s false assertion—as she answered questions from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) yesterday.

Several senators said they were unhappy with her answers. In spite of persistent questioning, Overton declined to say whether she would defy Trump if he told her to take actions that would harm public health.

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland Democrat, has announced that she will vote no on Overton’s nomination.

Many public health advocates are sounding the alarm about Overton’s nomination for FDA commissioner.

“The only thing I learned from her appearance [before the Committee] is that she is even more adept at providing non-answers than I had expected,” said Peter Lurie, MD, MPH, president and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group. She is even more adept at providing non-answers than I had expected."

In a letter published the day before the committee hearing, Lurie urged senators not to confirm Overton to lead the FDA, criticized her for her involvement in Trump’s executive order, and accused her of spreading inaccurate information about mifepristone, the abortion pill.

“All of our concerns around vaccine policy, mifepristone, and relevant work experience remain,” Lurie told CIDRAP News.

Concerns about Overton’s answers, track record

Some health experts support Overton’s nomination.

Two former FDA commissioners, Scott Gottlieb, MD, and Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, wrote an editorial for Stat describing Overton as “the right pick in a difficult moment.” 

Others say Overton’s answers yesterday did not reassure them. 

In her testimony, Overton affirmed the safety of childhood vaccines, told senators that the MMR vaccine is not lethal, and described the MMR shot as the best way to prevent measles.

“Dr. Overton said the right things about MMR under oath,” Amesh Adalja, MD, an infectious disease specialist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, told CIDRAP News. “But confirmation hearings are where nominees say the right things. Her record is the better guide.”

Adalja noted that Overton supported Trump’s recommendation to split the MMR into three individual shots, without any medical evidence to support the change.

“She didn't object then, and yesterday she wouldn't say he was wrong or that he’s even capable of ever being wrong,” Adalja said. 

Elisabeth Marnik PhD, executive director of The Evidence Collective, which translates science into understandable language, told CIDRAP News she still has “deep concerns” about Overton as FDA commissioner.

“Anyone in leadership right now needs to stand up for what the evidence says,” Marnik said. “Her track record working with this administration, combined with her hearing answers, didn't convince me she would do that.”

Overton told senators that there’s no evidence that Tylenol, sold generically as acetaminophen, causes autism. Jess Steier, DrPH, PMP, founder and CEO of Unbiased Science, which debunks health science myths, said it’s important that Overton went on the record to refute that claim.

But Steier faulted Overton for failing to note that it’s currently impossible for children to receive separate vaccinations for measles, mumps, and rubella, because vaccines against those diseases are only available as a single, combined shot.

“Those shots don't exist in the US; there's no evidence they offer any benefit,” Steier said. “Separating them means more appointments, more chances for missed doses, and longer stretches without protection during a measles outbreak.”

Several public health experts said they hope the new FDA commissioner will stand up to Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who have worked to limit access to vaccines.

“The role of FDA commissioner carries significant responsibility, and the American people deserve someone who will uphold the evidence and the public's best interest,” Marnik said, “rather than the current administration's questionable health agendas.”