FDA's Top Tobacco Official Removed Amid Leadership Changes

The Food and Drug Administration’s chief tobacco regulator has been removed from his post amid broad cuts at the agency and across the federal health workforce handed down Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

In an email to staff, FDA tobacco director Brian King said: “It is with a heavy heart and profound disappointment that I share I have been placed on administrative leave.”

King was removed from his position and offered reassignment to the Indian Health Service, according to a person familiar with the matter who did not have permission to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Dozens of staffers in FDA’s tobacco center also received notices of dismissal Tuesday morning, including the entire office responsible for enforcing tobacco regulations.

King, who joined the agency in 2022, has faced criticism from vaping lobbyists for ordering the removal of fruit and candy-flavored e-cigarettes from the market, while his actions have been part of broader regulatory efforts at the FDA.

His removal comes shortly after FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks stepped down, citing concerns over Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s stance on vaccine information in his resignation letter.

The latest changes mean that several of FDA’s top leaders overseeing drugs, food, vaccines, medical devices and now tobacco products have resigned or retired in recent months.

The leadership changes come as Kennedy plans to review FDA staffing levels and move forward with initiatives to examine ultra-processed foods, childhood vaccines, antidepressants, and other established products.

The wave of departures means incoming FDA commissioner Marty Makary, confirmed last week, will take over an agency with significant leadership turnover and an ongoing adjustment process. Most of the agency's scientific reviews and decisions are overseen by career officials, with only a few political appointees.

Neither Makary nor Kennedy have said much about how tobacco policy fits into their plan to “Make America Healthy Again.” Despite historically low rates of smoking, tobacco-related diseases remain the nation’s leading preventable cause of death, blamed for more than 490,000 annually.

In recent years, the FDA’s tobacco center has been faced criticism from all sides including congressional lawmakers, anti-smoking advocates, and tobacco and vaping companies.

Politicians, parents and anti-tobacco groups want the FDA to take action against unauthorized vaping products that can appeal to teens, many of which are imported from China. Tobacco and vaping companies argue that the FDA has been slow to approve newer products for adult smokers, including e-cigarettes, which they claim carry fewer risks than traditional cigarettes.

Under King, the FDA rejected applications for millions of flavored e-cigarettes, citing insufficient data that the products would help adult smokers while not becoming popular with underage kids. Those rejections have resulted in multiple lawsuits against FDA from vape makers, including one that was argued before the Supreme Court in December.

The Vapor Technology Association, an industry group, has been running ads encouraging Trump to fulfill a campaign pledge to support the flavored vaping industry.

The FDA has authorized a handful of e-cigarettes for adults, mostly from major vaping brands owned by legacy tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynold’s Vuse and Altria’s Njoy.

Other recent FDA departures include:

— Deputy commissioner for foods, Jim Jones, who resigned in February after dozens of his staffers were dismissed.

— Director of FDA’s drug center, Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, who stepped down days before President Donald Trump took office.

— The agency’s second-ranking official. Dr. Namandje Bumpus, who resigned late last year.

— FDA’s longtime medical devices director, Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, who retired last summer.

Many deputies and senior scientists have also retired or stepped down in recent weeks.