The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board bashed the "dysfunction" that appears to be hampering the Food and Drug Administration under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s leadership.
Recently, the administration's top drug regulator, George Tidmarsh, the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research chief, resigned from the agency and was sued by a Canadian drug maker for allegedly defaming the company in a LinkedIn post. The editorial board also noted that the agency has "arbitrary and shifting standards" for drug developers, which dissuade the creation of new medicines.
"The Food and Drug Administration shouldn’t be in the news if it’s doing its job right," the editorial reads. "By that measure, the FDA is failing in spectacular fashion. The agency this week is making news for all of the wrong reasons, and the dysfunction could have life and death consequences for patients."
Tidmarsh's departure is a particular stain on the FDA's reputation, the editorial continues. Regardless of whose side of the case someone is on, it illustrates a lack of judgment that should be seen as an "embarrassment" for the administration, it adds.
"Regardless, Dr. Tidmarsh’s social-media smear against Aurinia showed awful judgment, and the whiff of impropriety damages the FDA’s credibility," the editorial continued. "Ditto the FDA dysfunction, which is impeding the launch of life-saving drugs. The FDA was a success in Mr. Trump’s first term. So far, it’s an embarrassment in the second."