{"id":439,"date":"2026-05-16T05:33:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439"},"modified":"2026-05-16T05:33:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:33:29","slug":"fda-official-who-scrutinized-covid-shots-and-antidepressants-is-out-in-latest-shake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439","title":{"rendered":"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A Food and Drug Administration official involved in scrutinizing the safety of antidepressants, COVID-19 vaccines and other widely used therapies has been removed from her role leading the agency\u2019s drug program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=437\">Moral victories aren\u2019t enough as Braves top Red Sox in 10 innings on Mike Yastrzemski\u2019s double<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg will be replaced as FDA\u2019s acting drug center director by Dr. Mike Davis, who has been serving as deputy director, according to an email sent to agency staff Friday that was obtained by The Associated Press.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Hoeg said in a social media post late Friday that she was \u201cfired,\u201d from the agency, adding: \u201cI learned so much and leave with no regrets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>Hoeg\u2019s departure is the latest in an ongoing shake-up at the powerful regulatory agency. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned earlier in the week, and Dr. Vinay Prasad, the agency\u2019s vaccine and biotech chief, stepped down last month following intense criticism from drugmakers, patients and investors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The agency also announced Friday that Karim Mikhail would take over as acting director of the vaccines center. Mikhail, a longtime pharmaceutical executive, was hired by Makary last spring.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Makary\u2019s ouster from his role atop the FDA followed weeks of complaints from President Donald Trump\u2019s political allies, including anti-abortion groups and vaping lobbyists, who are frustrated with the direction of the agency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Hoeg, who is closely aligned with Makary and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had been leading FDA\u2019s drug program since December, the latest official to briefly hold that position amid a revolving door of FDA leadership changes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Hoeg\u2019s rapid rise through the agency was engineered by Makary, who quickly promoted her from serving as his special assistant to overseeing the agency\u2019s largest center, responsible for regulating most U.S. prescription and over-the-counter drugs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>FDA center directors are typically career agency scientists with decades of experience. Hoeg had no previous government or management experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Since arriving at the FDA last March, Hoeg led investigations into the safety of injectable RSV drugs for children, antidepressants and COVID-19 vaccinations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=435\">Supreme Court rejects Virginia\u2019s bid to restore congressional map favoring Democrats<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Those inquiries reflected Hoeg\u2019s longstanding interests and concerns from before joining government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A sports medicine physician and public health scientist, Hoeg first gained attention during the pandemic as a critic of masking, school closures, vaccine mandates and other government measures. She co-wrote papers with other medical contrarians who would go on to join the Trump administration, including Makary and Prasad.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Like Makary and Prasad, Hoeg also frequently expressed her opinions in blog posts and podcasts, including one titled \u201cVaccine Curious.\u201d The podcast discussed a number of discredited ideas, including that mRNA vaccines may contain harmful DNA contaminants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A Danish American citizen, Hoeg was instrumental in the Trump administration\u2019s recent effort to drop a number of federally recommended shots for children, including those for the flu and hepatitis B at birth. Those changes have been temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Boston, though the administration plans to appeal the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At the FDA, Hoeg led an \u201cinitial analysis\u201d of vaccine injuries that linked COVID-19 shots to 10 reported deaths in children \u2014 without providing the supporting evidence. The findings were discussed in an internal memo Prasad sent to staffers last November, though the FDA has not formally announced the findings or explained how they were developed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Officials from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have previously concluded that serious side effects from the vaccines are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>More recently, Hoeg was involved in the agency\u2019s review of a formal petition to add bold new warnings to antidepressant drugs about unproven pregnancy risks, including fetal abnormalities that could lead to autism and other disorders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In March, she attempted to hire the author of the petition to serve as a senior adviser at the FDA, according to people familiar with the situation. The matter raised concerns among some agency staff because Hoeg had repeatedly referred to the person as a friend, according to the people who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential FDA matters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>___<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=433\">Smithsonian adds back impeachment language to label on Trump portrait<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg will be replaced as FDA\u2019s acting drug center director by Dr. Mike Davis, according to an email sent to agency staff that was obtained by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up - Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg will be replaced as FDA\u2019s acting drug center director by Dr. Mike Davis, according to an email sent to agency staff that was obtained by The Associated Press.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-16T05:33:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"headline\":\"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-16T05:33:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439\"},\"wordCount\":779,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/1c6d02c7d1fb0afb81fe6567079b0129.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439\",\"name\":\"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up - Boston Relocation Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/1c6d02c7d1fb0afb81fe6567079b0129.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-16T05:33:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/1c6d02c7d1fb0afb81fe6567079b0129.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/1c6d02c7d1fb0afb81fe6567079b0129.avif\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":960},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=439#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Boston Relocation Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up - Boston Relocation Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up - Boston Relocation Insider","og_description":"Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg will be replaced as FDA\u2019s acting drug center director by Dr. Mike Davis, according to an email sent to agency staff that was obtained by The Associated Press.","og_url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439","og_site_name":"Boston Relocation Insider","article_published_time":"2026-05-16T05:33:29+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"headline":"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up","datePublished":"2026-05-16T05:33:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439"},"wordCount":779,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1c6d02c7d1fb0afb81fe6567079b0129.avif","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439","name":"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up - Boston Relocation Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1c6d02c7d1fb0afb81fe6567079b0129.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-16T05:33:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1c6d02c7d1fb0afb81fe6567079b0129.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1c6d02c7d1fb0afb81fe6567079b0129.avif","width":1440,"height":960},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=439#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"FDA official who scrutinized COVID shots and antidepressants is out in latest shake-up"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/","name":"Boston Relocation Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}