The Food and Drug Administration saw a huge shakeup in leadership today.
Today, the FDA commissioner, Dr. Marty McCary, resigned.
And how big a deal is that?
I think it's a huge deal.
Our colleague Liz Esley-White covers health policy.
He had a tumultuous tenure full of intrigue and palace drama and politics and conflict in a way
that we have n't really seen with any other FDA commissioner.
President Trump called McCary, quote, a terrific guy, but added that he was having some difficulty.
McCary, a surgeon by training, was sworn in as commissioner over a year ago
with promises to usher in a new era at the FDA.
He started phasing out artificial food dyes and cut down on the time it takes for drugs to get FDA approval.
But McCary also faced a lot of headwinds throughout his tenure.
Patients, oncologists, and biotech investors have been pressing Commissioner McCary over a string of drug rejections,
none more contentious than Replimune.
He 's managed to make a lot of critics in the pharmaceutical industry who view him as unsympathetic
to the cause of rare disease patients.
I don't work for Replimune.
I work for the American people, and I stand by the scientists at the FDA.
The White House has also blamed McCary for a mess of bad PR from people he brought on who then quickly left the agency.
That's according to people familiar with the matter.