WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� chief tobacco regulator has been removed from his post amid sweeping cuts at the agency and across handed down Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.
In an email to staff, FDA tobacco director Brian King said: 鈥淚t is with a heavy heart and profound disappointment that I share I have been placed on administrative leave.鈥�
King was removed from his position and offered reassignment to the Indian Health Service, according to a person familiar with the matter who did not have permission to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Dozens of staffers in FDA鈥檚 tobacco center also received notices of dismissal Tuesday morning, including the entire office responsible for enforcing tobacco regulations.
King, who joined the agency in 2022, has been vigorously criticized by vaping lobbyists for ordering thousands of companies to remove their fruit and candy-flavored e-cigarettes from the market. During his time at FDA, teen vaping has fallen to a 10-year low.
His removal comes just days after was forced out, citing health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s support for vaccine 鈥渕isinformation and lies鈥� in his resignation letter.
The latest changes mean that nearly all of FDA鈥檚 top leaders overseeing drugs, food, vaccines, medical devices and now tobacco products have resigned or retired in recent months.
The leadership vacuum comes as and pushes ahead with plans to scrutinize ultra-processed foods, childhood vaccines, antidepressants and other long-established products.
The wave of departures means incoming 鈥� who was confirmed last week鈥� will inherit an agency without many of its top experts and a beleaguered workforce that has been rocked by weeks of layoffs and a . Only a handful of FDA employees are political appointees, with nearly all of the agency's scientific reviews and decisions overseen by career officials.
Neither Makary nor Kennedy have said much about how tobacco policy fits into their plan to 鈥淢ake America Healthy Again.鈥� Despite historically low rates of smoking, tobacco-related diseases remain the nation鈥檚 leading preventable cause of death, blamed for more than 490,000 annually.
In recent years, the FDA鈥檚 tobacco center has been besieged by criticism from all sides including congressional lawmakers, anti-smoking advocates, and tobacco and vaping companies.
Politicians, parents and anti-tobacco groups want the FDA to do more to stamp out unauthorized vaping products that can appeal to teens, . Tobacco and vaping companies say the FDA has been too slow to approve newer products for adult smokers 鈥� including e-cigarettes 鈥� that generally carry much lower risks than traditional cigarettes.
Under King, the FDA rejected applications for millions of flavored e-cigarettes, citing insufficient data that the products would help adult smokers while not becoming popular with underage kids. Those rejections have resulted in multiple lawsuits against FDA from vape makers, including one that was argued before the Supreme Court in December.
The Vapor Technology Association, an industry group, has been running ads urging Trump to follow through on a campaign pledge he made to 鈥渟ave the flavored vaping industry.鈥�
The FDA has authorized a handful of e-cigarettes for adults, mostly from major vaping brands owned by legacy tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynold鈥檚 Vuse and Altria鈥檚 Njoy.
Other recent FDA departures include:
鈥� Deputy commissioner for foods, Jim Jones, who resigned in February after dozens of his staffers were fired.
鈥� Director of FDA鈥檚 drug center, Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, who stepped down days before President Donald Trump took office.
鈥� The agency鈥檚 second-ranking official. Dr. Namandje Bumpus, who resigned late last year.
鈥� FDA鈥檚 longtime medical devices director, Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, who retired last summer.
Many deputies and senior scientists have also retired or stepped down in recent weeks.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press
