Azar Reportedly Reversed FDA Chief On Testing Policy; Schumer Calls For Him To Go

Politico: HHS Chief Overrode FDA Officials To Ease Testing Rules 
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar led an escalating pressure campaign against his own Food and Drug Administration this spring and summer, urging the agency to abandon its responsibility for ensuring the safety and accuracy of a range of coronavirus tests as the pandemic raged. Then in late August, Azar took matters into his own hands. Overriding objections from FDA chief Stephen Hahn, Azar revoked the agency’s ability to check the quality of tests developed by individual labs for their own use, according to seven current and former administration officials with knowledge of the decision. (Cancryn and Owermohle, 9/15)

The Hill: Schumer Calls For Azar To Resign Over 'Chaos' In Coronavirus Response 
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) on Tuesday called on Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to resign, arguing he has failed to stand up to President Trump in the response to coronavirus. "It has become abundantly clear that the leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services has allowed perhaps the most important federal agency right now to become subservient to the president's daily whims," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "So today, I am calling on Secretary Azar to resign immediately. We need a Secretary of Health and Human Services who will look out for the American people, not President Trump's political interests." (Sullivan, 9/15)

Reports of crisis mismanagement are shaking Americans' faith in their public health agencies  —

The Hill: Polls Show Trust In Scientific, Political Institutions Eroding
The American public is beginning to lose trust in political leaders and scientific institutions as the coronavirus pandemic drags into its sixth month, troubling signs that raise the prospect that millions of Americans may not take advice or get a vaccine once one becomes available. Two new surveys show most Americans still trust leading scientists and institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but that those levels of trust are beginning to erode. (Wilson, 9/15)

The CDC and FDA are criticized —

Stat: CDC Director Is Seen As Allowing Agency To Buckle To Political Influence
In his first address to the staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield called the Atlanta-based agency “the best science-based, data-driven agency in the world.” His voice breaking repeatedly as he tried without success to hold back tears, Redfield — named director of the CDC in March 2018 — told thousands of employees he had long dreamed of leading the prestigious institution, considered the gold-standard for public health agencies around the globe. (Branswell, 9/16)

The Hill: Bill Gates: CDC Being 'Written Out Of The Picture' On Coronavirus 
Bill Gates says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is “being written out of the picture” of the federal coronavirus response. Gates was asked in a Bloomberg Television interview published Tuesday whether he trusted the federal agency amid the pandemic. “The CDC is largely being written out of the picture,” he said, “because you have people at the White House who aren’t epidemiologists saying what a great job they’ve done, and so it’s no longer a set of experts.” (Coleman, 9/15)

The Hill: Bill Gates Questions Whether FDA Can Be Trusted On Vaccine 
Microsoft founder Bill Gates questioned whether a coronavirus vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could be trusted as safe and effective, telling Bloomberg TV the agency has been politicized under the Trump administration. Gates specifically cited FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn touting blood plasma as a potential treatment, only to reverse himself a day later. (Budryk, 9/15)