FDA Nominee Heidi Overton Backs MMR Vaccine Safety but Stays Evasive on Mifepristone at Senate Hearing
核心洞察
Heidi Overton, Trump's nominee to lead the FDA, told the Senate HELP Committee that the MMR vaccine is not lethal and is safe and effective.
Overton said every vaccine on the U.S. market is safe and effective according to the FDA, contradicting the president's earlier claim that the shot is potentially lethal.
On mifepristone, Overton said the drug is safe and effective as labeled under the current risk evaluation mitigation strategy, citing an ongoing safety review.
Heidi Overton, President Trump's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration (搜索), told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday that the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is not lethal, directly contradicting a claim the president made last month.
"The MMR vaccine is not lethal," Overton said in response to the opening question from committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La. "It is safe and effective."
Overton had stood behind Trump when he declared the shot "potentially lethal." At the hearing she reversed that position, stating that "every vaccine on the U.S. market right now is safe and effective according to the FDA." Cassidy responded that "politicization and misinformation severely damage the credibility of FDA and HHS."
Mifepristone safety review cited
Overton, a preventive medicine physician from rural New Mexico who worked in the White House during both Trump terms, was repeatedly pressed on the abortion drug mifepristone. In 2023 she wrote an article calling abortion medication dangerous to women, and she has praised the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and advocated for more controls over prescribing abortion drugs.
Asked by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., whether she considered mifepristone safe, Overton said: "According to FDA standards, the drug is safe and effective as labeled today with the appropriate risk evaluation mitigation strategy." She noted that an ongoing safety review of the drug is under way.
Murray then asked whether Overton considered an IUD an "abortifacient," a position held by some anti-abortion groups. Overton replied that if confirmed she would be "fully briefed on all their prior decisions and make decisions based on the standards of safety and efficacy." Murray told her, "I don't think you answered the question."
Cassidy said he would like the next FDA commissioner to implement a policy requiring an in-person ultrasound before mifepristone is made available and for physicians to report adverse events related to the drug, arguing that "the agency has failed to follow the science enacted when it comes to the dangerous chemical abortion drug." Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said too much political pressure hangs over the mifepristone safety review and noted that in-person dispensing would be very difficult in a rural state like Alaska.
Flavored vapes and China enforcement
Overton declined to criticize the agency's decision to approve flavored vapes, a decision that Trump's former FDA commissioner, Marty Makary, strongly opposed before eventually leaving the role. She told the committee she understood the need for flavored vapes because they help with smoking cessation for adults, and pledged to work with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to reduce youth vaping.
Asked by Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., whether political donations influenced the administration's decision to approve flavored vapes, Overton refused to criticize the administration. She did commit to cracking down on illicit Chinese vapes when asked by Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla.
Confirmation vote uncertain
Throughout the two-hour hearing, Overton referred repeatedly to existing agency guidance and approvals for products including childhood vaccines and mifepristone without saying whether she would endorse updating that guidance or altering approvals. Murphy observed during his questioning, "You've done a pretty good job of avoiding answering questions so far."
After the hearing, Cassidy declined to say whether he would support Overton's nomination or hold a vote on her before the year ends. Murkowski said she thought Overton was "well rehearsed in her responses" and remained undecided on whether to support her.