FDA Fires Top Drug Regulator Tracy Beth Hoeg After She Refuses to Resign

7 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 16

Tracy Beth Hoeg said Friday she was fired from the FDA after declining to resign as director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the agency’s top drug-regulation post.
Hoeg said she was not told who ordered the firing or why, and HHS did not immediately comment, leaving the latest leadership change at the agency unexplained.
Her ouster comes days after Commissioner Marty Makary resigned, deepening turmoil at the FDA, where temporary officials are already filling several senior roles.
Hoeg had been a polarizing appointee: public health leaders criticized her vaccine-skeptic record, while she said she insisted drugs be approved only when their risk-benefit balance was favorable.
The departure widens a leadership vacuum across federal health agencies, with key FDA, CDC and surgeon general posts still unfilled.

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