A top vaccine official at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was forced out of his job, US media reports.
Peter Marks offered his letter of resignation to Health and Human Services (HHS) officials on Friday, after being given a choice between resigning or being fired.
“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Mr Marks wrote in a resignation letter, obtained by multiple US media outlets, referring to the agency’s new leader Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Mr Marks was among the healthcare professionals who helped develop Covid-19 vaccines in the first Trump administration.
In a statement to the BBC, the HHS responded that if Mr Marks “does not want to get behind restoring science to its golden standard and promoting radical transparency, then he has no place at FDA under the strong leadership of Secretary Kennedy”.
His resignation takes effect on 5 April.
In his letter, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Mr Marks said he was leaving with a “heavy heart” and noted he was concerned about the growing measles outbreak in Texas.
“[It] reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined,” Mr Marks wrote, according to the outlets that obtained the letter.
As of Friday, two people have died of measles and 523 cases have been reported in the US – 400 of which are in Texas.
Mr Marks has served as the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research within the FDA since 2016. He has been with the FDA since 2012.
Kennedy, who leads the HHS, which oversees the FDA, is a well-known vaccine sceptic who has a history of spreading health information that scientists say is false.
Earlier this week, Kennedy announced plans to restructure the HHS, in part by cutting 10,000 employees, including those working at the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
