Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s chief spokesman resigned Wednesday in protest of administration pressure to allow major tobacco companies to begin selling vaporizers with flavors that appeal to children. His departure came a day after the head of the Food and Drug Administration resigned for the same reason.
In a letter to Trump, obtained by The New York Times, spokesman Rich Danker did not place blame on the president, whom he said had “twice restored our prosperity and national security against all odds.” But he warned that authorizing flavored e-cigarettes would attract more children to vaping and increase their risk of a range of health problems, from addiction to cancer.
The letter cited unnamed “senior HHS officials,” in addition to Mr. Kennedy, who were behind measures that included a new policy posted on the FDA website on Friday, in which the agency said it would take steps to remove illicit e-cigarettes from the market and allow sales of those that have already cleared hurdles to agency approval.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, who resigned Tuesday, attempted to block the marketing of flavored e-cigarettes but was rebuffed. Trump personally participated in its advancement. In his letter, Mr. Danker did not name Dr. Makary, but echoed Dr. Makary’s objections.
“Senior HHS officials in the secretary’s immediate office have in recent months asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval to market e-cigarette flavors that appeal to children and expose them to nicotine addiction, lung damage, and an increased risk of cancer,” Danker wrote.
Danker added that routine approval of the products would undermine a policy the agency issued in March, “with the support of the White House.”
Mr. Danker’s resignation comes at a particularly tense time for the Department of Health and Human Services. With Dr. Makary’s resignation on Tuesday, the department now has three major vacancies. The positions of surgeon general and director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are also vacant.
As assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Danker was responsible for coordinating the department’s external communications. He was in Los Angeles on Wednesday, where Kennedy will speak at a conference about the possible link between diet and cancer.
He is the second undersecretary of public affairs to resign. Thomas Corry, Kennedy’s first chief spokesman, resigned after two weeks, partly in protest over Kennedy’s handling of a measles outbreak in Texas.
