Roundup: Trump administration cuts hit health care

Trump administration cuts staff at health care agencies: ©Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

As the Trump administration continues its effort to cut the size of the federal workforce, multiple health care agencies have had hundreds or thousands of employees fired, according to multiple news agencies.

Here’s a summary of the cuts to health care agencies:

The AP reported that employees of the FDA responsible for the review of food ingredients, medical devices, and other products were fired. Probationary employees across the agency received notices over the weekend that their jobs were being eliminated.

The total number of employees affected is not clear, but The Guardian reported that Jim Jones, the head of the FDA Food Division, resigned because of the indiscriminate firing of 89 employees. Jones stated that it was fruitless to continue the mission to promote food safety because of the administration’s disdain for the people needed to do the job. In addition, Stat News (paywall) reported that Ross Segan, the FDA head of medical device safety hired in September, was one of the people fired over the weekend.

Reuters (paywall) reported that some of the employees terminated at the FDA were overseeing Elon Musk’s Neuralink clinical trials.

The AP also reported that HHS was expected to fire 5,200 probationary employees across its agencies, including NIH, FDA and the CDC. The CDC alone was supposed to lose 1,300 positions, with about 700 receiving notices on Sunday. The AP noted that nearly half of the FDA’s $6.9 billion budget comes from fees paid by companies the agency regulates, including drug and medical device makers, which allows the agency to hire extra scientists to swiftly review products. Eliminating those positions will not reduce government spending.

NPR reported that among staff who were caught up in the first wave of layoffs at the CDC were Ph.D.-trained scientists tasked with helping local and state officials respond to outbreaks; employees who ensure that medical devices for patients with cancer and diabetes are safe; and a public health worker stationed at an international airport who enforces regulations to prevent animals carrying rabies and other infectious diseases from entering the U.S.

According to NPR reports, the news organization reviewed termination letters sent to staff at the CDC, NIH and FDA.

All of them used similar language and cited inadequate performance as the reason for their firing — yet the employees NPR spoke with had records of stellar work.

Consumer groups, including the Friends of Cancer Research and the American Diabetes Association wrote a joint statement that read in part:” “The cumulative effects of threatened cuts to federal health research funding and forced departures at our nation’s premier health agencies will put our global leadership and our nation’s health at risk.”