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The Trump administration FDA could save millions of lives. Here’s how.
Most people I know think that a second Trump administration will bring nothing but trouble, and there’s little doubt that difficult times lie ahead. But it seems equally likely that Trump II also will bring reasons to cheer, as his first time around did. Recall, for example, the unprecedented speed with which Operation Warp Speed delivered a safe and effective Covid vaccine, passage of the First Step Act, a meaningful victory for criminal-justice reform, and the robust economy that drove the unemployment rate for Black Americans to record-lows.
This time, as the new administration takes power in Washington, a major victory for public health is within reach. The FDA under Trump and, yes, the unpredictable Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could at long last throw it support behind tobacco harm reduction by making the life-saving benefits of electronic cigarettes readily available to about 28 million American adults who smoke.
During the first Trump administration, the FDA, led by Scott Gottlieb and Mitch Zeller, was headed that way. Gottlieb and Zeller put forth a sensible, science-based comprehensive plan to reduce the death and disease caused by cigarette smoke that, among other things, promised to carefully regulate safer nicotine products, like vapes.
