The Food and Drug Administration has revived a number of specialist employees involved in food safety, medical device reviews and reviews in other regions that were fired last week, according to more than dozens of workers called back. I did.
The total number of employees recalled was not immediately clear. But those familiar with the conversation said that almost all of the approximately 180 medical staff who have been let go would get back to work. More than dozens of workers from a small team said they had received calls or emails to revive their jobs. Some reported that up to dozens of people on the team were brought home.
The FDA and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, did not respond to requests for comment.
The workers were fired as part of an effort by the Trump administration led by Elon Musk, significantly reducing the federal government and cutting costs. However, many of the salaries of fired FDA staff were funded by fees paying the FDA, not taxpayer money.
Many of the revived jobs were funded by such types of fees, but some of such employees had not yet lost their jobs. For example, those whose work was funded by the excise tax on cigarettes said they were not called back to work over the weekend. These workers reviewed applications for new tobacco products and studied the safety of emerging tobacco products, including e-cigarette products and devices that do not heat and burn tobacco.
On Friday, The New York Times featured accounts of layoff staff who reviewed the safety of insulin-infused surgical robots, cardiovascular devices and diabetes care systems. All were at work as of Monday morning.
Advamed, an industry association of medical device manufacturers, pushed the administration with letters and meetings to ensure that workers reviewing those products get back to work. Industry funding helped hire experts in the device review department. This includes doctors who have experience using the device. Industry funding is regularly approved in Congress-passed contracts, including strict deadlines for making approval decisions.
A revived worker who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation said 12 staff members of the agency's lead lawyers have regained their jobs, including lawyers who supported drug policy. Approximately 12 people overseeing cardiovascular devices and another 12 people approved the artificial intelligence software program have also been restored. Others have been called back to the work of new health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s prioritization of food chemical safety.
In the interview, employees who returned Monday reported a sense of whiplash and frustration, but also reported a relief to return to work.
Dr. Robert Caliph, an FDA commissioner during the Biden administration, is called staff to reduce “anti-efficiency.” This is because many recent recruitments have been recruited to close the institution's knowledge gaps, such as artificial intelligence and food chemical safety. He also said that the cuts were made without taking into consideration the happiness of the workers.
“It's sinister to treat fellow people like this and the indications of immature people from those doing it,” he said in a text message Monday.
The fired workers were evenly told that their performance was “not enough to justify further employment by the institution.” However, many of the fired workers said performance reviews from the institution were excellent, although they had revived.
Alice Callahan contributed the report.
