It Is Happening Every Day, Every Where
The nation’s health secretary addressed agency employees, asking them to shed any corporate influence. But he did not address the mass layoffs that have gutted oversight of tobacco and vapes, food safety and drug reviews.
Trump cutbacks were supposedly aimed at administrators. But scientists in food and drug-testing labs and policy experts who advance generic drug approvals were also dismissed.
The Trump administration halted some food testing and shut down a committee studying bacteria in infant formula. Earlier funding cutbacks under the Biden administration now threaten state labs and inspectors.
Staff units evaluating high-tech surgical robots and insulin-delivery systems were gutted by Trump layoffs even though industry fees, not taxpayers, financed the employee salaries.