And the new FDA commissioner is... Marty Makary. Funny, smart, and honest- the best we could do!
What this video covers
Days after Makary’s March 6, 2025 confirmation hearing, Dr. Vinay Prasad — the hematologist-oncologist and evidence-based-medicine commentator who would later serve as director of the FDA’s vaccine center under Makary — posted this reaction video endorsing the nomination. The title says it all: Prasad calls Makary “funny, smart, and honest — the best we could do,” and argues his hearing performance “has surely secured his position as the next FDA commissioner.”
In the accompanying write-up, Prasad lays out five takeaways from the hearing. On advisory committees, he argues the panels are stacked with members who take pharma money and then vote on controversial drug approvals — and says Makary’s exchange with Sen. Rand Paul made clear “Marty will take action.” On the canceled VRBPAC flu-strain meeting, Prasad defends Makary’s non-committal stance, arguing the U.S. simply mirrors European strain guidance and that the committee adds little. On mifepristone, he notes Makary’s pledge to follow safety data under REMS and judges removal unlikely.
On personnel, Prasad addresses the DOGE-driven firings of probationary FDA workers — Sen. Susan Collins asked whether Makary would control staffing going forward, and he agreed. And on drug costs, Prasad praises Makary’s pledge to speed biosimilar and generic approvals, noting that “each generic lowers brand price by 10%.” Prasad closes by calling Makary “a smart, thoughtful and disciplined physician scientist” whose answers “pleased both sides,” quoting Makary’s line that “I have never been afraid to speak my mind on scientific issues.”
Key points
- Prasad’s video is an ally’s endorsement: he presents Makary as the ideal commissioner and reads the hearing as a decisive success.
- On advisory committees, Prasad argues pharma conflicts of interest corrupt drug approvals and credits Makary with signaling he will act — a view critics would dispute as overstated.
- On the canceled VRBPAC meeting, Prasad sides with Makary’s stance that internal FDA expertise suffices and committees add little on strain selection.
- He treats Makary’s REMS-based answer on mifepristone as responsible, predicting no removal of the drug.
- On the DOGE personnel cuts, Prasad frames the firings as legally straightforward and democratically mandated — the pro-administration reading.
- On biosimilars and generics, he credits Makary with understanding that speed drives prices down.
- The video is a useful counterweight in the chronicle: where PBS and the Bulwark cover Makary’s fall, Prasad documents the high hopes of his reformist supporters at the start.