FDA moves to rehire medical device staffers fired only days earlier
Barely a week after mass firings at the Food and Drug Administration, some probationary staffers received unexpected news over the weekend: The government wants them back.
Beginning Friday night, FDA employees overseeing medical devices and other key areas received calls and emails notifying them that their recent terminations had been 바카라 게임 웹사이트rescinded effective immediately,바카라 게임 웹사이트 according to messages viewed by The Associated Press.
Three FDA staffers impacted by the decisions spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity because they planned to continue working for the agency and weren바카라 게임 웹사이트t authorized to discuss its internal procedures.
The reversal is the latest example of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's approach to cost-cutting, which has resulted in several agencies firing, and then scrambling to rehire, employees responsible for nuclear weapons, national parks and other government services.
The FDA reinstatements followed pushback by lobbyists for the medical device industry, which pays the agency hundreds of millions of dollars annually to hire extra scientists to promptly review products. The industry's leading trade group said Monday 바카라 게임 웹사이트a sizeable number바카라 게임 웹사이트 of device reviewers would apparently be returning to FDA.
바카라 게임 웹사이트This would be welcome news, and I appreciate the administration for acting quickly,바카라 게임 웹사이트 AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker said in an emailed statement. 바카라 게임 웹사이트We all share the same goal 바카라 게임 웹사이트 an efficient, effective FDA review process that helps advance the medical technologies American patients depend on.바카라 게임 웹사이트
FDA staffers said entire teams of five or more medical device reviewers had been reinstated. There did not appear to be a similar effort to rehire staffers in other parts of the agency, including its food and tobacco centers.
The agency hasn바카라 게임 웹사이트t released official numbers on the terminations, but former FDA officials have pegged the number at roughly 700, with more than 220 coming from the medical device center. That would represent roughly 10% of the program's total staffing.
The FDA did not respond to requests Monday about how many employees were being reinstated.
Like other agencies, the FDA terminations went to employees in their probationary period, typically the first two years of federal employment. But that approach resulted in the terminations across key areas where the agency has been working to beef up staffing, including rapidly evolving fields like artificial intelligence and digital health. The cuts also included agency leaders who were recently hired for senior roles.
바카라 게임 웹사이트The disarray caused by the wholesale termination of a wide swath of device center staff was counterproductive and appears to have caused a variety of unintended and negative results,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Steve Silverman, a former FDA device official who now runs a consulting firm. 바카라 게임 웹사이트It바카라 게임 웹사이트s encouraging to see a shift in the opposite direction that recognizes the critical expertise of these staffers.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Many reviewers have advanced degrees in specialized medical and technological fields. They can typically earn more in the private sector than in government.
Last week, the lobbying group AdvaMed pushed back on the firings, calling on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse course. The group warned that the cuts would result in slower approvals for companies and fewer new treatment options for patients.
바카라 게임 웹사이트FDA will lose hundreds of new employees, the best and most innovative hires under our most recent agreement,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Whitaker wrote in a statement posted online. He noted that the hiring of FDA device reviewers is largely financed through an ongoing five-year agreement between the FDA and medical device companies.
More than half the device program바카라 게임 웹사이트s $791 million budget last year came from industry fees, according to federal figures. In return, the FDA is obligated to meet certain benchmarks for quickly and predictably reviewing applications for new and updated devices.
FDA staffers who were reinstated said their immediate supervisors received no explanation or advance notice on the decisions. Instead, staffers received calls or emails from the FDA바카라 게임 웹사이트s 바카라 게임 웹사이트Office of Talent Solutions,바카라 게임 웹사이트 informing them that their access to FDA computer systems and offices had been restored.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We are so grateful to still have you working for the FDA and serving the American public!바카라 게임 웹사이트 the emails concluded.
A week earlier, the same employees received emails stating that they were 바카라 게임 웹사이트not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency바카라 게임 웹사이트s current needs.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Nearly half the FDA바카라 게임 웹사이트s budget, or about $3.3 billion, comes from fees paid by drugmakers, device and tobacco companies. The result is that broad cuts to those programs won바카라 게임 웹사이트t add much toward Musk바카라 게임 웹사이트s stated goal of shrinking the federal budget.
But the financial support of industry fees did not appear to help staffers in other parts of the agency.
The agency바카라 게임 웹사이트s tobacco center 바카라 게임 웹사이트 which reviews new products like electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches 바카라 게임 웹사이트 is 100% funded by industry fees. But there did not appear to be an effort to rehire any of the estimated 100 or so employees fired from that center.
Similarly, the recalls did not appear to apply to the agency바카라 게임 웹사이트s food program, which recently went through a major restructuring to better oversee essential products like infant formula and baby food.
Last week, the FDA바카라 게임 웹사이트s deputy commissioner for foods, Jim Jones resigned, citing 바카라 게임 웹사이트the indiscriminate firing바카라 게임 웹사이트 of nearly 90 staffers in his division, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by the AP. The employees fired included those with 바카라 게임 웹사이트highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, food safety response바카라 게임 웹사이트 and chemical safety, Jones said.
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AP Health Writer JoNel Aleccia contributed to this story.