FDA Nominee Heidi Overton Affirms MMR Vaccine Is "Safe and Effective" at Senate Hearing
核心洞察
Dr Heidi Overton, Trump's nominee to lead the FDA, told senators the MMR vaccine is safe and effective and is the best tool in the measles (搜索) outbreak response.
Overton said every vaccine on the US market is safe and effective according to the FDA, as US measles (搜索) cases reach their highest level since 1991.
Senate health committee chair Bill Cassidy pressed Overton on whether she would uphold vaccine standards if the president asked her to break them.
Dr Heidi Overton, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the US Food and Drug Administration, told senators at her confirmation hearing on Thursday that the measles (搜索), mumps and rubella vaccine is "safe and effective," weeks after standing behind the president as he suggested the shot could be "quite lethal."
"It is our best tool right now in the public health response to the measles (搜索) outbreak," Overton said of the MMR vaccine. Asked whether any vaccine on the US market was unsafe, she replied: "Every vaccine on the US market right now is safe and effective according to the FDA."
The hearing took place as the US records its highest number of measles (搜索) cases since 1991.
Cassidy Presses on Vaccine Commitments
Overton faced sustained questioning from Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and physician who chairs the Senate health committee and whose vote is seen as pivotal. Cassidy had called her role in Trump's August vaccine executive order "almost disqualifying." That order called for splitting up and spacing out decades-old childhood vaccinations.
Cassidy has repeatedly tried to extract commitments from Trump health nominees to uphold vaccine standards, including from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., only to see the administration push forward with efforts undermining their use. "Kennedy gave me guarantees, and he did not keep them," Cassidy said. "If the president asks you to do something that goes against those guarantees you give us today, what will you do?"
Overton said she would "follow the statutory requirements" for FDA commissioners and give Trump her best advice. Asked what she would do if the president asked her to break her assurances on vaccine safety, she said: "I would give him my best advice, and I would follow the statutory requirements for the role of FDA commissioner regarding individual product determinations for safety and efficacy."
When Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator, asked whether she would have "the courage to stand up to" a president who he said "lies all of the time," Overton did not answer directly. "I have worked for the president for a long time now, and earned his trust because I have been part of robust discussions to bring him the best advice," she said.
Mifepristone Review Left Open
If confirmed, Overton would inherit a safety review of mifepristone, the nation's principal abortion drug, ordered by Kennedy last year following calls from antiabortion groups and lawmakers favoring abortion restrictions. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 and has repeatedly affirmed its safety while broadening access, including allowing it to be sent through the mail.
While working at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute (搜索), where she was chief policy officer, Overton called the FDA decision to allow mail delivery of mifepristone "dangerous for women," referring to the practice as "chemical abortion on demand." In a February 2023 issue brief for the institute, she wrote that abortion "is corrosive to children, women, and society broadly."
Responding to questions from Washington Senator Patty Murray, Overton sidestepped her personal views on the drug, stating that it "has met the safety and efficacy determinations of the FDA." She said she did not want to "prejudge" the agency's safety review of the pill. "The FDA has said this is safe," Murray responded. "We need someone in FDA to make sure this is done by science."
Overton's abortion views could complicate her efforts to win over two moderate Republicans on the panel, Maine Senator Susan Collins and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, both of whom have bucked their party on the issue by supporting federal access to abortion.
Flavored Vaping Products Draw Scrutiny
Collins focused her questions on recent FDA decisions allowing new flavored e-cigarettes onto the market, including blueberry, mango and cappuccino flavors. Under previous administrations, including Trump's first term, the agency had restricted sweet flavors that appeal to children. Collins said nearly 90% of young e-cigarette users choose flavored products.
Overton said there was "100% agreement from this administration that we must protect kids," but defended the authorizations as recommended by career staff because "so many adults are using flavors preferentially." She said FDA scientists determined the products met the standard of "appropriate for the protection of public health" by helping adult smokers quit cigarettes. "If that standard is not appropriate, we should work on statutes to fix that," she added.
Agency Leadership and Background
In her opening statement, Overton framed her agenda around speeding up drug development to protect US leadership in biotechnology. "We can protect America's global leadership in biotechnology, but we have to act fast," she said, pledging to make the FDA "the agency of the possible, rather than the impossible."
Overton, 37, would be the youngest ever FDA commissioner if confirmed. A surgeon by training, she is now deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy and served as a White House fellow during Trump's first term. She studied under Marty Makary at Johns Hopkins University (搜索), where she received a doctoral degree in clinical research after earning her medical degree at the University of New Mexico. Like Makary, she has no experience running a large bureaucracy, a skill the Los Angeles Times noted is critical for steering the FDA's 16,000 staffers spread across numerous US and international locations.
She would replace Makary, who resigned in May. His tenure was defined by scientific disputes, leadership changes and media reports detailing low morale and internal dysfunction among staffers. The FDA has lost about 20% of its employees to layoffs, buyouts, retirements or resignations since Trump took office.
In financial disclosure forms, Overton reported no investments in healthcare or food companies, a contrast to Makary and other recent FDA nominees who had to divest investments or cut other financial ties with companies regulated by the agency. She reported $50,000 to $100,000 in student loans.
To become commissioner, Overton will need a majority of votes from the 21-member health committee, followed by a positive vote from the full Senate.