Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) aggressively badgered FDA Director nominee Dr. Marty Makary during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). She demanded that Dr. Makary immediately convene a postponed FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) meeting, a line of attack aimed at HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It didn't go well for Senator Murray, or the other Senators who chimed in. Dr. Makary turned the tables on them:
Trump FDA nominee turns vaccine question on Dem, recalling controversial Biden decision
'You can ask the Biden administration that chose not to convene the committee meeting for the COVID vaccine booster,' Dr. Marty Makary said
By Julia Johnson - March 6, 2025President Donald Trump's choice to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) flipped a question about vaccine processes around on a top Democratic senator during his confirmation hearing on Thursday, advising them to ask former President Joe Biden why he skipped a key step when it came to the COVID-19 booster.
Dr. Marty Makary, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor and former Fox News medical contributor, went before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), during which he answered questions regarding vaccines, chronic illness, food safety and abortion.
"So if you are confirmed, will you commit to immediately reschedule that FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting to get the expert views?" Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked Trump's FDA pick.
Her question came in reference to an FDA vaccine meeting that was reportedly postponed at the last minute.
"I would reevaluate which topics deserve a convening of the advisory committee members on [Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee] and which may not require a convening," Makary replied, noting he was not a part of the decision.
Asked again by Murray, the FDA commissioner nominee said, "Well, you can ask the Biden administration that chose not to convene the committee meeting for the COVID vaccine booster."
In 2021, Biden's administration notably pushed through FDA approval for a COVID-19 booster for everyone over the age of 18. Per a press release at the time, "The FDA did not hold a meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on these actions as the agency previously convened the committee for extensive discussions regarding the use of booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines and, after review of both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s EUA requests, the FDA concluded that the requests do not raise questions that would benefit from additional discussion by committee members."
At the time, committee member Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia remarked, "We’re being asked to approve this as a three-dose vaccine for people 16 years of age and older, without any clear evidence if the third dose for a younger person when compared to an elderly person is of value."
Fox News Digital asked Murray whether she was similarly concerned by Biden's decision. The senator said in a statement, "In 2022, I had confidence that our public health agencies were following the latest science and listening to public health experts. I do not have that confidence now."
"We’re talking about Trump and RFK Jr. canceling a routine meeting that has taken place annually, for at least 30 years, to make recommendations for which influenza strains should be included in the flu vaccines for the upcoming flu season — there has been zero justification for its cancellation or any information about when it would be rescheduled," she continued. "The flu vaccine is safe, effective, and lifesaving — we need this advisory committee to meet so manufacturers have enough time to prepare the correct vaccines."
Ahead of the Thursday hearing, Murray and fellow HELP Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland penned a letter to Makary, telling him, "We intend to use your nomination hearing next week to understand whether you support this ill-informed measure to slow critical public health decision-making."
HELP Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., also inquired about the postponed meeting, asking Makary, "How will you ensure that advisory committees remain objective, transparent and still benefiting from the necessary expertise of external experts?"
The nominee told Cassidy, "You have my commitment to review what the committees are doing [and] how they're being used."
"As you know, I was critical when that committee was not convened at all during one of the COVID booster guidance decisions by the FDA," Makary, a former Fox News contributor, noted.
He recalled that FDA leadership "at the time argued that they're advisory, and we don't have to convene them. That was repeatedly, throughout the Biden administration."
Heritage Foundation's Daily Signal goes in-depth, bringing up a question I'd love to ask Dr. Makary.
Are doctors really guilty of arrogance, or just toeing the line of hospitals, insurance, or other bureaucrats who pay them??
Frankly, I don't think they need humility as much as the courage to stand up for their patients.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/03/07/trumps-nominee-head-fda-promises-reform/?
FDA Nominee Makary Calls for ‘More Humility in the Medical Establishment’
Dr. Martin Makary testifies at his FDA confirmation hearing Thursday. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“We need more humility in the medical establishment,” Makary told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which also heard the testimony of President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health this week.
Makary, who is a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University and a public policy researcher, criticized the medical establishment for its lack of humility, citing statistics that showed a 30-percentage-point drop in trust in doctors and hospitals over the past several years.
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“Trust in doctors and hospitals is at a crisis right now,” the public health expert asserted.
“If we have the cure for pancreatic cancer, but only 40% of the public is going to come in and take it because the rest doesn’t trust us, then that medication is only 40% effective,” Makary said as a hypothetical example of the point he was making.
Makary also promised to examine the revolving door between people who serve as health care regulators who then take roles in health care companies, citing concerns about conflicts of interests.
“We need to review the ethics policy because people see things that appear to be a cozy relationship between industry and the regulators that are supposed to be regulating the products,” he said.
The Johns Hopkins surgeon also committed to do a staffing and personnel review at the FDA, and reiterated his commitment to following the law.
“I believe in the law, and I believe in the process of having inspector generals,” Makary told Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J.
Makary explained that he wanted to use common sense alongside science to reform the regulatory process for reviewing experimental drugs for diseases.
“We have to customize the regulatory process to the condition that we’re trying to be able to offer hope for,” Makary told Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
He noted that if a condition only affects a couple of dozen people around the world, then the FDA would have to customize the regulatory process. Makary advocated for asking “big questions” that had not been asked before, such as about the long approval time for drugs.
Makary also said he would review the data on the abortifacient mifepristone.
“I have no preconceived plans on mifepristone policy except to take a solid hard look at the data and to meet with the professional career scientists who have reviewed the data at the FDA and to build an expert coalition to review the ongoing data, which is required to be collected as a part of the … the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy,” he said.
Makary said he would “follow the independent, scientific review process at the FDA” when he takes a look at the abortion drug.
The nominee also said he had no plans to dissolve the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. “I have no preconceived plans to rearrange that committee or any committee,” Makary said in response to a question from Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
In his opening statement, Makary noted that for 22 years he has walked into Johns Hopkins Hospital in the morning and looked at the Christus Consolator (Christ the Comforter) statue, and read Jesus’ words on the pedestal: “Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
Makary expressed hope that the United States had a “generational opportunity in American health care.”
The longtime doctor appeared to be on the path to a swift confirmation. He received relatively friendly questions from Republican swing votes on the committee: Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Collins in particular said she was “delighted” in Makary’s interest in working with her on diabetes treatment.
Jacob Adams is a journalism fellow at The Daily Signal.
The FDA just bypassed the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) regarding the virus strains to be used in the 2025–26 influenza vaccines:
FDA Issues Flu Vaccine Recommendations After Canceling Routine Meeting With Advisers
By Aldgra Fredly - March 16, 2025From The Epoch Times
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued recommendations to vaccine makers on Thursday regarding the virus strains to be used in the 2025–26 influenza vaccines, after canceling a meeting of its vaccine advisers last month that had been scheduled for March 13.
The strain composition recommendations for flu shots usually involve input from the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), but this year, the agency excluded its advisers from the decision-making process.
Instead, the FDA held a closed session with experts from its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, along with officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Defense, to review U.S. and global surveillance data on currently circulating flu viruses.
That interagency meeting was held on the same day that the VRBPAC was originally scheduled to meet. In a statement, the FDA said it does not expect any impact on the timing or availability of vaccines for the public.
The regulator recommended using the trivalent formulation of egg-based influenza vaccines for the next flu season, containing two influenza A subtype viruses and one influenza type B virus.
The FDA stated that it has informed vaccine manufacturers of its recommendations and expected “an adequate and diverse supply of approved trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines” for the upcoming influenza season, which covers the fall and winter of each year.
The reason for the cancelation of the VRBPAC meeting remains unclear. The FDA did not offer an explanation.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)—which represents over 13,000 physicians, scientists, and public health experts—had urged the FDA to reschedule the meeting, saying that its cancelation could endanger public health as the nation faces its worst flu season in more than a decade.
“Cancelling this meeting means vaccine makers may not have the vital information and time they need to produce and distribute targeted vaccines before the next flu season,” IDSA President Tina Tan said in a Feb. 27 statement.
Seasonal influenza activity has remained high in the United States, with at least 40 million illnesses recorded so far, according to the CDC. Of these, 520,000 patients were hospitalized, and 22,000 have died from flu as of March this year.
The cancelation of the FDA’s advisory committee meeting came after President Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 13.
Kennedy told employees at the Health and Human Services (HHS) on Feb. 18 that nothing would be off-limits as he led investigations into children’s health, identifying vaccinations as possible factors behind the rise in chronic diseases.
In his address, Kennedy emphasized that his main mission at HHS is “to reverse the chronic disease epidemic” in the United States.
Besides hearing from its advisers, the FDA typically consults with the World Health Organization (WHO) on the composition of the influenza vaccines before making recommendations. The agency was not included in the FDA’s recent meeting on flu vaccines.
Trump has withdrawn the United States from the WHO, citing the WHO’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China,” and other global health concerns.
The president stated that the WHO had failed to “adopt urgently needed reforms” and was unable to demonstrate independence from “the inappropriate political influence” of member states.
The United States was the largest contributor to the WHO, having contributed about $1.28 billion during the 2022-2023 biennium, according to the organization’s website. It stated that U.S. experts supported nearly half of WHO joint external evaluation missions last year.
It should be noted that the FDA's strain composition recommendations for influenza vaccines have not been particularly accurate over the last several years, despite input by the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC).
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