Top vaccine official resigns from FDA, criticizes RFK Jr. for promoting
'misinformation and lies'
[March 31, 2025]
By MICHAEL CASEY and MATTHEW PERRONE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top vaccine official with the Food and Drug
Administration has resigned and criticized the nation’s top health
official for allowing “misinformation and lies” to guide his thinking
behind the safety of vaccinations.
Dr. Peter Marks sent a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner on
Friday saying that he would resign and retire by April 5 as director of
the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
In his letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, Marks said he
was “willing to work” to address the concerns expressed by Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. about the safety of vaccinations. But he concluded that
wasn't possible.
“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,” he wrote.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a
request for comment.
Marks was offered the choice of resigning or being fired by Kennedy,
according to a former FDA official familiar with the discussions, who
spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn’t have permission to
discuss the matter publicly.
Kennedy has a long history of spreading anti-vaccine misinformation,
although during his Senate confirmation hearings he seemed to say he
would not undermine vaccines. He promised the chair of the Senate health
committee that he would not change existing vaccine recommendations.
Since becoming secretary, Kennedy has vowed to scrutinize the safety of
childhood vaccinations, despite decades of evidence they are safe and
have saved millions of lives.
Marks oversaw the agency’s rapid review and approval of COVID-19
vaccines and treatments during the pandemic.
Marks is credited with coining the name and concept for “Operation Warp
Speed,” the effort under President Donald Trump to rapidly manufacture
vaccines while they were still being tested for safety and efficacy. The
initiative cut years off the normal development process.
Despite the project’s success, Trump repeatedly lashed out at the FDA
for not approving the first COVID shots even sooner. Trump told
confidants after his 2020 loss that he would have been reelected if the
vaccine had been available before Election Day.
Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,
criticized what he called the “firing” of Marks.
“RFK Jr.’s firing of Peter Marks because he wouldn’t bend a knee to his
misinformation campaign now allows the fox to guard the hen house,"
Offit said. “It’s a sad day for America’s children.”
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said the issues raised in
Marks' resignation letter “should be frightening to anyone committed to
the importance of evidence to guide policies and patient decisions.”
[to top of second column]
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Dr. Peter Marks, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and
Research within the Food and Drug Administration testifies during a
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing to examine an
update from Federal officials on efforts to combat COVID-19,
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool
via AP, File)
 “I hope this will intensify the
communication across academia, industry and government to bolster
the importance of science and evidence,” he wrote.
The resignation follows news Friday that HHS plans to lay off 10,000
workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee
billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community
health centers across the country.
In a post on social media Thursday, Kennedy criticized the
department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy." He
also faulted the department’s 82,000 workers for a decline in
Americans’ health.
The resignation is the latest blow to the beleaguered health agency,
which has been rocked for weeks by layoffs, retirements and a
chaotic return-to-office process that left many staffers without
permanent offices, desks or other supplies. Last month, Jim Jones,
the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods, resigned, citing “the
indiscriminate firing” of nearly 90 staffers in his division,
according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by the AP.
Marks, who could not be reached for comment, also raised concerns in
his letter about “efforts currently being advanced by some on the
adverse health effects of vaccination are concerning” as well as the
“unprecedented assault on scientific truth that has adversely
impacted public health in our nation.”
He went on to detail the historic benefits of vaccinations dating
back to George Washington and pointed to the ongoing measles
outbreak as proof of what can happen when doubts about science take
hold.
“The ongoing multistate measles outbreak that is particularly severe
in Texas reminds us of what happens when confidence in
well-established science underlying public health and well-being is
undermined,” he wrote.
The measles outbreak, which could go on for months, has now spread
to Kansas and Ohio after sickening more than 370 in Texas and New
Mexico.
If it hits other unvaccinated communities across the U.S., as may
now be the case in Kansas, the outbreak could endure for a year and
threaten the nation’s status as having eliminated the local spread
of the vaccine-preventable disease, public health experts said.
___
Casey reported from Boston. Perrone reported from Washington, D.C.
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