In short - med students need training in how to think, instead of what to think.

I couldn't agree more! Cookie-cutter medicine is letting patients everywhere fall through the cracks.

Another fascinating take on Dr. Makary comes from his previous employer and my frequent source in this Forum for Healthcare Headlines.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/fdageneral/113078

Trump's FDA Pick Is MedPage Today's Former Top Editor

— Marty Makary has made a name for himself challenging the medical establishment

by Kristina Fiore, Director of Enterprise & Investigative Reporting        November 22, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Marty Makary, MD, MPH, to run the FDA.

Makary served as the editor-in-chief of MedPage Today from January 2020 through the end of 2021.

"FDA has lost the trust of Americans, and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator. The Agency needs Dr. Marty Makary, a Highly Respected Johns Hopkins Surgical Oncologist and Health Policy Expert, to course-correct and refocus the Agency," Trump said on Friday, in announcing the nomination on Truth Social.

"He will work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to, among other things, properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation's food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our Nation's youth, so that we can finally address the Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic," Trump added.

Trump also announced the nominations of Dave Weldon, MD, for CDC Director and Janette Nesheiwat, MD, for U.S. Surgeon General.

Makary has written three books on medicine and healthcare: Blind Spots, The Price We Pay, and Unaccountable, the last of which was turned into a TV series called "The Resident." A theme of all three books is challenging the status quo in medicine, questioning the evidence base for certain treatments and established clinical practices. Among his top issues, Makary has taken on the high costs of healthcare and medicine's penchant for overtreatment. He also authored Mama Maggie, a book about a woman who aids the poor people of Egypt's slums.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary espoused some views that were in opposition to mainstream medicine, including championing the power of natural immunity, challenging vaccine mandates, and questioning the need for COVID vaccines in children. Makary famously predicted in February 2021 that the U.S. would have "herd immunity by April" 2021.

In 2023, Makary testified before Congress that a lab leak origin of SARS-CoV-2 from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China was a "no-brainer."

More recently, he has reverted to speaking out against the core business-of-healthcare issues that initially sparked his rise to fame, including how hospitals that make profits should pay taxes, and exposing how certain Medicare policies enable hospital and health system monopolies.

Makary completed his surgical residency at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., after attending medical school at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He received his Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University. In 2018 he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

At FDA, Makary would be in charge of the agency's annual budget of $7 billion, and he would report to Kennedy, Trump's pick for HHS secretary, if confirmed by the Senate.

Late last month, Kennedy lashed out at the FDA in a post on X: "FDA's war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals, and anything else that advances human health and can't be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags."

Outgoing FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, has fought against medical misinformation, and pushed for improvements in food safety and inspections. He recently said that under a Trump administration, FDA's ability to hire and retain skilled employees could be in jeopardy, given Kennedy's hostility to civil servants.

Dr. Martin Adel Makary is now the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5214293-senate-confirms-marty-makary-fda/

Senate confirms Marty Makary to lead FDA
By Nathaniel Weixel - March 25, 2025

The Senate on Tuesday night confirmed Marty Makary to be the Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

Makary was easily confirmed by a 56-44 vote, picking up three Democrats.

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.) Maggie Hassan (N.H.) and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) voted with all Republicans to confirm Makary.

A Johns Hopkins surgeon, Makary will take over an agency hammered by workforce cuts imposed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

He will also have to navigate politically tricky decisions on access to the abortion medication mifepristone, as well as about vaccine policy under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a prominent vaccine skeptic.

Democrats hammered Makary during his confirmation hearing on recent moves by the Trump administration to cut FDA staff and pressed him on plans to exercise his authority over mifepristone.

GOP senators urged him to curb access, while Democrats pressed him to keep the current policies in place.

Makary tread carefully in his responses, saying he had no preconceived notions about the drugs and would “take a solid, hard look at the data” about mifepristone’s safety.

Makary was a critic of federal COVID-19 mitigation policies and frequently appeared on Fox News during the pandemic.

Makary during his hearing largely said he supported the benefits of vaccines, even as he was being pressed about the recent cancellation of agency advisory panels.

“Vaccines save lives, and I do believe that any child who dies of a vaccine-preventable illness is a tragedy in the modern era,” he said.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Martin A. Makary resigned yesterday:

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5875030-marty-makarys-tenure-as-head-of-fda-ends-with-difficulty/

Marty Makary’s tenure as head of FDA ends with ‘difficulty’
By Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi - May 12, 2026

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary stepped down on Tuesday, capping weeks of pressure and rumors that his job was in jeopardy.

The agency’s top food regulator, Kyle Diamantas, will take over, President Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump told reporters ahead of his trip to China on Tuesday that Makary had been “having some difficulty” in the role.

“Marty’s a terrific guy, but he’s going to go on and he’s going to lead a good life,” Trump said. “He was having some difficulty. You know, he’s a great doctor and he was having some difficulty.”

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House did not respond to requests for further comment, though the White House’s official rapid response account shared Makary’s resignation by text on the social media platform X.

“Dr. President Trump, Please accept my resignation, effective today,” Makary wrote.

“During my tenure, I announced 50 major FDA reforms. Joe Biden’s FDA had none. I’m extremely proud that we reduced drug review times from a year to 1-2 months, wrote new guidance to advance psychedelics, introduced a new ‘plausible mechanism’ pathway for rare disease drugs, and changed estrogen labels to tell women the truth about menopausal hormone replacement.”

Makary’s resignation comes on the heels of reports of internal tension between him and the White House.

Last week, FDA announced authorization of fruit-flavored electronic cigarettes for the first time, after months of pressure by Trump and the tobacco industry. Previously, the agency had only authorized tobacco or menthol flavors.

According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Makary tried to block agency scientists from authorizing the new products, but he was angrily reprimanded by Trump, who demanded he do it to appease young voters in the Make America Great Again movement.

Politico was the first to report Makary’s exit on Tuesday.

Sources who spoke with NewsNation said the FDA commissioner’s departure was in large part tied to his reticence to authorize the fruit-flavored e-cigarettes.

Trump during his campaign promised to “save vaping,” but the industry had been growing frustrated by the FDA’s inaction.

Tony Abboud, president of the Vapor Technology Association, said he thinks the president is now finally trying to fulfill that promise.

Abboud, whose organization donated more than $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, said he met with Makary last week to talk about a “predictable” regulatory framework for vaping products.

Abboud said while Makary seemed to be coming around, his efforts apparently were “too little, too late.”

Abboud said Makary generally seemed “very hostile to vaping products” and was “preoccupied” with the idea that there is a youth vaping epidemic tied to fruity flavors, even though 2024 federal data showed youth vaping dropped to its lowest level in a decade.

“As a result, he continued the policies of the previous administration, which were hostile to flavors,” Abboud said.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) commended Makary for standing up to Trump on e-cigarettes.

“I voted for Dr. Makary to head the FDA based upon his commitment to say ‘no’ if President Trump asked him to do something that would harm America. Dr. Makary kept his word,” Durbin said in a statement. “He resisted Trump’s plan to expose millions of children to the dangers of vaping.”

But the e-cigarette industry was far from the only constituency Makary angered.

When Trump first tapped Makary, the Johns Hopkins surgeon garnered some optimism among drug and biotechnology companies. But they quickly soured on him amid an FDA staff exodus, a string of controversial decisions and delays in novel drug approvals.

He also came under fire from anti-abortion advocates who accused him of dragging out an agency review of the abortion pill mifepristone.

It’s the latest shakeup at HHS, where the White House has elevated some more conventional staff over more controversial allies of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Makary’s exit leaves yet another vacant senior position in the health department, where there’s no permanent surgeon general or director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Makary’s predecessor lamented that his exit is evidence of the ongoing chaos within the agency.

“I think the continued upheaval at FDA has been detrimental to the agency, not just the speculation about Marty’s fate, but also the departures that we’ve seen from the agency,” former Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who served during Trump’s first administration, said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“The agency’s lost thousands of medical reviewers, some voluntary through the — through the DOGE cuts, or some forced through the DOGE cuts. … There’s been a lot of voluntary departures from the agency.”

Diamantas, Makary’s replacement for the time being, has earned high marks from the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement for his efforts to remove chemicals from the food supply and other initiatives.

David Mansdoerfer, who served in HHS during the first Trump administration, praised Diamantas as “an EXCELLENT pick to be acting commissioner.”

“He is well respected inside and outside of the building and I think will bring great leadership to the agency,” said Mansdoerfer. “A good pick for MAHA, and a good pick for business.”

Trump said Tuesday that Diamantas would “temporarily” lead the FDA until someone else is found.

Diamantas’s detractors argue he lacks the necessary experience to be the FDA’s top food regulator, let alone acting head of the entire agency. A Vanity Fair profile on him published last year described his prior stated experience as a “study in brevity.”

The progressive healthcare advocacy group Protect Our Care called Diamantas “a thirty-something lawyer whose qualifications for such a critical public health role seem to begin and end at being Don Jr.’s ‘hunting buddy.’”

A backgrounder from The Hill on the policy issues which vexed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary.  It all comes down to health care being the biggest money industry in America and entrenched health care interests aggressively protecting their filthy lucre, public be damned:

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5877025-fda-resignation-trump-pressure/

Next FDA chief to face similar headwinds after Makary’s ouster
By Nathaniel Weixel - May 14, 2026

Marty Makary’s resignation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may help release some pressure by removing one of the Trump administration’s more embattled health leaders.

But the next head of the agency will have to navigate many of the same headwinds — political interference, funding cuts and balancing the demands of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement with the MAGA White House — that Makary faced.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing untested peptides with virtually no restrictions. Anti-abortion leaders and lawmakers want the agency to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

And after meeting with executives from Reynolds American, President Trump reportedly pressed Makary to approve flavored electronic cigarettes.

The next commissioner will inherit an FDA that’s viewed as less trustworthy and more politicized than it has been in any previous administration.

Lawrence O. Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said Makary did not push back against political interference from the White House or Kennedy, and that at times, he actively undermined the agency’s scientific integrity.

“The problem at FDA is not just one commissioner or one controversy. It’s the growing perception that scientific expertise is being subordinated to politics, instability and ideology,” Gostin said.

“While there have been periods of trust gaps with other agencies at HHS, the FDA is the oldest scientific agency. It’s the most revered and venerable, and yet there is profoundly eroding public trust in the institution,” and that’s a problem, Gostin said.

In a Tuesday post on social media, Kennedy said the search for a new agency head is underway “with urgency.”

“We have an outstanding team at FDA, and the work continues without pause,” Kennedy wrote.

The FDA has for decades been seen as a nonpartisan, often wonky part of the administration. Commissioners have largely been medical or scientific bureaucrats with experience running large organizations.

But with the Trump administration’s embrace of top-down governing, the worry among the public health community is that the next commissioner will be even more susceptible to pressure.

“Our concern is that although Marty Makary really did offend just about everybody, the reason why he lost his job seems to have been focused on a few decisions,” said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research.

Public health leaders want to see “a more scientific-based, evidence-based FDA, and not one that has to change according to the whims of political appointees and also perhaps donors and friends of the White House,” Zuckerman said.

Makary fashioned himself as a MAHA champion. He criticized the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response and promoted the FDA’s work in getting companies to remove food dyes.

“Marty, you took on entrenched interests, challenged the status quo, and never lost sight of the American people we serve. You pushed forward critical reforms and helped advance our mission to Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said in a social media post Tuesday.

But MAHA activists have increasingly found themselves at odds with the Trump administration.

Trump sided with major agricultural corporations over Kennedy and MAHA regarding expanded production of a weedkiller. And he jettisoned the MAHA choice for surgeon general nominee when she failed to get support from key senators, rather than expending political capital.

Still, the MAHA agenda for food is likely to remain important, especially ahead of the midterm elections.

Experts and analysts said navigating the administration’s inherent contradictions between the populist MAHA and mainstream industry groups will be a key challenge for the next FDA commissioner.

“We expect the Trump Administration to take some time in choosing a nominee for the role. Finding someone industry welcomes and MAHA does not despise, may be a bit of a challenging channel to navigate,” wrote Chris Meekins, a Raymond James analyst and former senior HHS official, in an investor note.

Makary’s departure Tuesday was linked primarily to his reluctance to approve flavored e-cigarettes.

But before he resigned, Makary cleared mango and blueberry flavored e-cigarettes for marketing, reversing his previous decision to override agency scientists who were recommending approval.

Then, in what some anti-tobacco advocates described as a last-ditch attempt to save Makary’s job, the FDA published a final guidance that essentially allows the sale of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches that haven’t been approved, so long as they’ve crossed certain regulatory hurdles.

“There’s always been White House interest in tobacco issues across administrations. That is not inherently new, but interest isn’t the same as interference,” said Brian King, a former FDA tobacco chief and vice president at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

“What’s different here is that you actually have pressure to influence agency decisionmaking, which has occurred following sizable political donations and closed-door meetings between the tobacco industry and the administration.”