Trump administration expected to nominate former deputy surgeon general as CDC director

The Trump administration is expected to nominate former Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz as CDC director, pending approval from President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Schwartz, a physician who holds a medical degree from Brown University and a law degree from the University of Maryland, served as deputy surgeon general under the first Trump administration and spent more than two decades in the military, starting with the U.S. Navy before joining the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard. During her time in the Coast Guard, she became rear admiral and served as the branch's CMO.

According to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Journal, the Trump administration is looking for a CDC director nominee who would minimize controversy after former CDC director Susan Monarez was fired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy and Chris Klomp, chief counselor at HHS, interviewed candidates and ultimately recommended Schwartz to President Trump, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal.

The Trump administration is also considering three other people to serve in senior roles under Schwartz, people with knowledge of the planned picks told the Post. Sean Slovenski, a former executive at Walmart, is the planned pick to serve in a COO role, Jennifer Shuford, an infectious disease physician and health commissioner for Texas, would serve in a senior medical role, and Sara Brenner, a senior official at FDA, would move to CDC.

(Whyte, et al., Wall Street Journal, 4/15; Diamond/Sun, Washington Post, 4/15)

FDA presses drug manufacturers to publish missing clinical trial data

FDA on Monday sent out over 2,200 letters urging drugmakers and medical device manufacturers to publish clinical trial data that they have failed to report, warning that publication preference for positive trials could be skewing evidence on various therapies.

Drugmakers are legally required to post results from many studies on the federal database ClinicalTrials.gov, however, many haven't done so for years. According to an internal FDA analysis, around 30% of studies hadn't reported their results to the database.

Trump administration considering physician for top vaccine job

The Trump administration is considering naming Houman Hemmati, an ophthalmologist and frequent guest on Fox News, as the new head of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Washington Post.

CBER has been searching for a new leader since Vinay Prasad announced he'd be leaving his position at the end of April. Two of the people who spoke to the Post said that FDA Commissioner Marty Makary favors Hemmati for the position.

Hemmati has served in a variety of roles within the healthcare industry, including in top medical positions for Optigo Biotherapeutics, which focuses on treatments for neovascular and degenerative retinal diseases, and at Vyluma, a company that develops eye drops. Hemmati has also worked as an adjunct clinical assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine.

Hemmati has been publicly supportive of several of the Trump administration's decisions, including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s push for states to ban the purchases of soda and candy with food stamps and a new pathway expediting cures for ultrarare genetic diseases. He was also an outspoken skeptic of the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Roubein/Diamond, Washington Post, 4/13)

RFK Jr. launching podcast as part of 'new era of radical transparency in government'

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last week announced he is launching a new podcast as part of "a new era of radical transparency in government."

The show, which will be titled "The Secretary Kennedy Podcast," will feature Kennedy in conversation with doctors, scientists, and HHS staff, according to agency officials. In a teaser video, Kennedy said he's "going to name the names of the forces that obstruct the paths to public health."

"For decades now, Americans have been told that we should trust the system, but our children are sicker. Chronic disease is exploding, and the answers that we've been given aren't working," Kennedy said in the teaser. "Many of us have come to the conclusion that government actually lies to us."

"This podcast is about telling the truth, especially when it's uncomfortable. I'm going to have fearless conversations with critical thinkers, including independent doctors, respected scientists, and leaders in medical innovation and research," he added. "I'm going to ask the questions and lift the taboos and expose the hypocrisy and the conflicts and the corruption."

Critics argue the podcast could be used to spread false information. Grace Silva, spokesperson for left-leaning political action committee 314 Action, said the show is "just another official channel to spread misinformation that will inject more dangerous conspiracy theories into the mainstream."

(Swenson, Associated Press, 4/8; Choi, The Hill, 4/8)