The doctor nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told senators on Sept. 24 that vaccines available in the United States are safe and effective.
Dr. Heidi Overton, the nominee, said that if confirmed, she could use her scientific training and clinical background to describe to the American public what is currently known about products that fall under Food and Drug Administration oversight.
“And what is currently known is that the vaccines that have been approved by the FDA meet the standards for safety and efficacy,” she said.
Overton, 37, also endorsed the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, saying it is not lethal and that it is the best tool in the public health response to measles outbreaks that are ongoing in the United States.
She said that mifepristone, an abortion pill, was safe and effective because it had been approved by the FDA. Overton wrote in a 2023 article that chemical abortion through products such as mifepristone was “dangerous to women,” drawing criticism from Democrats in the Senate.
Overton would take the helm of an agency that has been under acting leadership since Dr. Marty Makary stepped down in May.
While signing an executive order in August that encouraged breaking up the measles combination vaccine, Trump told reporters that the vaccine is possibly “quite lethal” and that separate shots for measles, mumps, and rubella appeared to be “not at all lethal but just very effective.”
When asked after the signing, the White House declined to provide any citations for Trump’s description of the vaccine.
Leaders in the Make America Healthy Again movement recently called for removing vaccines containing messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), an outspoken vaccine proponent, has been asking people whom Trump nominated to serve in high-level health positions about Trump’s comments, as well as other questions about vaccines, during their confirmation hearings before the Senate Health Committee, the panel he chairs. Chris Klomp, selected to be the top deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently voiced support for vaccines in response to Cassidy, as did Dr. Nicole Saphier, tabbed to become surgeon general.
Cassidy said on Sept. 24 that Kennedy, whom he voted for, made him guarantees but later backtracked on those promises, citing directives from the president. Kennedy’s department did not return a request for comment. Cassidy asked Overton how she would handle it if she made guarantees and the president then directed her to go against them.
“I’ve had robust discussions with the president,” said Overton, who was part of Trump’s first administration. “I would give him my best advice, and I would follow the statutory requirements for the role of FDA commissioner regarding individual product determinations for safety and efficacy, and that would be what would guide every decision if confirmed to this role.”