Researcher Vinay Prasad returns to FDA after abrupt resignation
Health researcher Vinay Prasad, MD, is returning to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration less than two weeks after he abruptly resigned, following a pressure campaign from loyalists to President Donald Trump who called for his removal.
In particular, right-wing pundit and Internet personality Laura Loomer wrote a piece on her blog about Prasad, plastering it with social media posts where the hematologist-oncologist was critical of Republican policies.
Loomer is a close ally and advisor to Trump, and worked directly with his reelection campaign.
Following the blog, Prasad stepped down from a leadership role at the FDA, where he worked on vaccine approval frameworks. Prasad is well-known for being skeptical of some COVID-era policies, particularly lockdowns, mask mandates and seasonal boosters for the virus.
His views are chronicled at the blog Sensible Medicine and on his popular YouTube channel.
Loomer accused Prasad of being a “progressive leftist saboteur” working to undermine the goals of Trump’s FDA. She highlighted statements where Prasad called himself a “political liberal” and said his views most align with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Prasad was also a critic of therapies promoted by Trump during the pandemic, such as hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to prevent malaria, something Loomer took issue with.
FDA commissioner backs Prasad
Despite leaving to ease tensions, Prasad is now returning to his role as one of the agency’s top vaccine regulators. The Associated Press reports he has the support of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, MD.
In May, Makary and Prasad published guidance in the New England Journal of Medicine, outlining a stricter approach to COVID vaccine approvals at the FDA. Specifically, the duo pulled recommendations that minors and healthy adults get the vaccine and booster shots, citing a lack of evidence for efficacy.
Prasad and Makary called the U.S. vaccine recommendations the “most aggressive” in the world. They still recommended people over 65 and those with compromised immune systems get booster shots.
The reinstatement of Prasad was made official on Aug. 11.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.