The Trump administration’s turbulent healthcare stewardship claimed another scalp with the departure of the 27th FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary last month after 13 months in the role. He left the agency after clashes with the White House and Trump administration officials over issues including flavored-vape approvals and abortion pill policy.
Debunked Podcast co-hosts Arundhati Parmar, MedCity News Editor-in-Chief, and Samir Batra, Managing Partner of Health Innovation Pitch, talked about Makary’s time at the FDA. Among Makary’s accomplishments as part of his push to modernize the FDA was to usher in a more streamlined approach to adverse events reporting and safety concerns. The goal of the FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System, or AEMS, is to make it easier for the public to search and less expensive for the agency to maintain.
A pro drug industry reformer, Makary faced criticism from all sides, making it difficult for anyone in that position to last for the longterm, Arundhati and Samir observed.
Questionable stock trades intersecting with critical policy decisions has led to speculation over how Trump and his allies benefit.
“This is shady, shady, shady, shady,” quipped Samir. “Even if this passes the legal test, you are really walking a line here in blunt, obvious ways.” Members of Congress are subject to the STOCK Act. President Barack Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act in April 2012, an act of Congress designed to combat insider trading.
However, the president and vice president are not subject to the same laws governing Congress.
Although it might be technically legal, it’s unethical, the co-hosts concluded.
The co-hosts also discussed a new trend in the world of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss: microdosing. The high cost of the drugs has led some companies to develop alternatives. Digital weight loss company Noom announced the launch of its microdosing program in April.
Supporters of a continued push to make drugs more affordable received a big win last month as the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from pharmaceutical companies that object to negotiating Medicare drug prices with the federal government as part of a ruling last month.
Listen to the full episode of Debunked here.