Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator, has resigned, an official at the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.
“If Peter Marks does not want to get behind restoring science to its golden standard and promoting radical transparency, then he has no place at FDA under the strong leadership of Secretary Kennedy,” a spokesperson at HHS said.
A person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Marks was forced out of his position.
Dr. Peter Marks, then-director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, testifies on Capitol Hill, on May 11, 2021.Jim Lo Scalzo / Pool via AP file
In a resignation letter to acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner, Marks wrote that undermining confidence in vaccines is “irresponsible, detrimental to public health, and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety, and security.”
He said that he had been willing to work with Kennedy to address any concerns about vaccine safety and transparency.
“However, it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote.
Marks did not respond to a request for comment.
Marks has led the FDA’s