WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dr. George Tidmarsh, head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug evaluation center, resigned Sunday after federal officials opened an investigation into “serious concerns about his personal conduct,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard said Tidmarsh had been placed on leave Friday before submitting his resignation. “Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expects the highest ethical standards from all individuals serving under his leadership,” Hilliard said in a statement.
The resignation came hours after Aurinia Pharmaceuticals filed a lawsuit accusing Tidmarsh of making “false and defamatory statements” while leading the FDA’s drug division. The company alleges he used his position to pursue a personal vendetta against its board chair, Kevin Tang, a former colleague involved in his past ouster from La Jolla Pharmaceutical.
Before joining the FDA in July, Tidmarsh spent decades in California’s biotech industry and briefly taught at Stanford University. His tenure was marked by controversy, including a LinkedIn post criticizing an Aurinia kidney drug that caused the firm’s stock to drop 20%.
The FDA’s drug center, responsible for reviewing and approving U.S. medications, has lost over 1,000 staffers in the past year amid internal turmoil.
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