The Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official announced his resignation on Friday, blaming his decision on the “misinformation and lies” perpetuated by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s newest secretary of health and human services.
Dr. Peter Marks, who has served since 2016 as the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) within the FDA, said in a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Benner that although he was “willing to work” to address RFK Jr.’s concerns about vaccine safety, he concluded that would not be possible.
Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine activist and prolific conspiracy theorist, was tapped by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services days after he was reelected president in November. Despite widespread backlash to his nomination, Kennedy was sworn in to the position last month.
“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 in the letter, which was published in full by health-oriented outlet Stat News.
Marks — a widely respected biomedical scientist praised for his work in the rapid development, testing and approval of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines — had been offered the choice of resigning or being fired by the secretary, according to a former FDA official, who spoke with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Marks opted for the former.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from the FDA and retire from federal service as Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research effective April 5, 2025,” he wrote.
As the director of CBER, Marks’ responsibility has been to ensure that biological products — including vaccines, allergenic products, blood and blood products, as well as cellular, tissue and gene therapies — are safe and effective for public use.
In his resignation letter, Marks specifically expressed concern over Kennedy’s efforts to undermine public confidence in the efficacy of vaccines, pointing to the nation’s current measles outbreak.
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control said 483 cases of measles had been confirmed across 20 states — including New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — so far this year.
But Kennedy has downplayed the outbreak, even after an unvaccinated child in Texas became the first people in the U.S. to die from the measles since 2015.
“Undermining confidence in well-established vaccines that have met the high standards for quality, safety, and effectiveness that have been in place for decades at the FDA is irresponsible, detrimental to public health and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety and security,” Marks said.
With News Wire Services
