• Posted March 31, 2025

Top FDA Vaccine Official Quits, Warns of Vaccine Misinformation

A top vaccine official at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is stepping down, warning that vaccine misinformation is coloring the country’s top health decisions.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said he will resign and retire by April 5.

In a letter to the acting FDA commissioner obtained by The Associated Press, Marks said the new leadership under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does not value science or transparency.

“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,” Marks wrote.

Kennedy, who has a history of spreading vaccine misinformation, promised during his Senate confirmation that he would not change vaccine policies. 

But since taking office, he has said he plans to closely review the safety of childhood vaccines -- despite decades of research showing vaccines are safe and save lives.

A former FDA official told reporters that Marks was told to either resign or be fired, The Associated Press reported.

Marks played a major role in the country’s COVID response. He helped lead the fast-tracked development and approval of COVID vaccines and created the name and idea behind "Operation Warp Speed" -- which helped get vaccines to people in record time.

“RFK Jr.’s firing of Peter Marks because he wouldn’t bend a knee to his misinformation campaign now allows the fox to guard the hen house,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It’s a sad day for America’s children.”

Dr. Robert Califf, former FDA commissioner, said Marks’ resignation “should be frightening to anyone committed to the importance of evidence to guide policies and patient decisions.”

The resignation dovetails with plans by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to lay off 10,000 workers and close several public health agencies.

Kennedy recently called the agency a "sprawling bureaucracy" and blamed it for worsening American health, The Associated Press said.

In his letter, Marks also pointed to the current measles outbreak as a warning of what happens when vaccine trust breaks down.

In all, 483 cases have been reported as of March 27, according to the latest U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention count. 

“The ongoing multistate measles outbreak that is particularly severe in Texas reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined,” Marks wrote.

More information

There's more about vaccines at John Hopkins' Institute for Vaccine Safety.

SOURCE: The Associated Press, March 29, 2025