Ex-FDA official demands independent Cyclospora outbreak review
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Frank Yiannas, former FDA Deputy Commissioner who served under both President Trump and former President Biden, criticized the federal government's handling of a Cyclospora outbreak.
- The Cyclospora outbreak has impacted thousands of Americans, according to the report.
- Yiannas called for an independent review of the government's response in an interview with Politico.
- Because Yiannas held the FDA's No. 2 post under administrations of both parties, his call for outside scrutiny carries bipartisan weight that a single-administration critic would not.
Why it matters: A former FDA Deputy Commissioner who served under both Trump and Biden publicly faulting the federal response to a multi-thousand-case Cyclospora outbreak gives bipartisan cover to demands for an independent review — a step typically reserved for outbreaks where the government's own handling is itself in question.
