The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made multiple headlines this week—starting with the on-again-off-again tenure of Dr. Marty Makary in his role as FDA commissioner. The FDA has drawn the ire of antiabortion activists over the agency’s approach to mifepristone regulation, including its approval last year of a generic version of the drug.
A so-called “safety report” on mifepristone, commissioned by HHS, is not due to be issued by the FDA until the fall, keeping the issue out of the public eye in the leadup to the midterms. (The timing, quite frankly, is a boon to Republicans.)
The real concern that appears to have been the final straw for the commissioner? Flavored vapes. Whereas the White House has been waging a campaign to appease tobacco donors by authorizing mint, tea and spice-flavored e-cigarettes, in March, the FDA issued a memo saying that it would draw the line at fruit and candy flavors. (Always looking out for the kids.) Yet somehow last week, blueberry and mango made it over the finish line. Sweet enough to satisfy Big Tobacco? Time will tell.
There’s nothing quite like coining a word like "under-babied" while peddling fruity vapes—all while gas prices are soaring, workplace benefits for parents are being rolled back, health insurance remains out of reach for millions, affordable housing is an oxymoron, and on and on.
Such is the legacy of a single week of news out of our nation’s top federal health agency.
The post A Government for Big Tobacco and Bigger Families appeared first on Ms. Magazine.