Bold claim: FDA drama deepens as the agency’s top drug regulator resigns after a mere three weeks on the job.
Richard Pazdur, the Food and Drug Administration’s leading figure in charge of drugs, has decided to retire just three weeks after stepping into the role, according to multiple media reports.
Pazdur, an oncologist who joined the FDA in 1999, was viewed as a stabilizing presence for an agency that had been entangled in turmoil during the latter days of the Trump administration. He assumed leadership of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research on November 11, following the departure of his predecessor, George Tidmarsh. Tidmarsh left amid an ongoing investigation and a lawsuit alleging he used his position to exact petty revenge against a former business partner. In the wake of the scandal, a venture capital investor described the FDA as a “clown show.” Drug industry groups also criticized the agency as erratic and unpredictable.
Inside the FDA, Pazdur’s appointment was seen as a hopeful signal by insiders, drug industry representatives, and patient advocacy groups, according to reporting from The Washington Post.
Yet optimism quickly gave way to tension. Within days of taking the post, Pazdur voiced serious concerns about the legality and public health risks of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s proposed overhaul to accelerate agency operations. On November 21, The Post reported that Pazdur opposed Makary’s plan to reduce the number of studies required to support drug-related decisions, such as label changes. He also warned that shortening drug review timelines could undermine transparency and potentially slide into illegality. Pazdur further pushed back on Makary’s proposal to bar agency career scientists from certain drug-review processes that were framed as political priorities.
