By Timothy S. Donahue

Top Takeaways:

• Political Pressure: Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary says the administration repeatedly pushed him to authorize flavored vapes.
• Earlier Allegations: Makary made similar accusations to CBS News on November 8, before his latest POLITICO interview.
• Regulatory Dispute: The allegations follow the FDA’s May authorization of Glas fruit-flavored e-cigarettes and Makary’s subsequent resignation.

Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary is renewing his fight with the White House, and flavored vapes are once again at the center of it.

Makary accused White House and Department of Health and Human Services officials of prioritizing vaping authorizations and industry lobbying over public health initiatives during his tenure, which ended with his May resignation.

“A lot of pressure from White House and HHS aides was not on medical cures or healthy food but instead on getting more vapes approved and catering to lobbyists,” Makary told POLITICO in comments published November 11.

The remarks follow a more pointed statement Makary gave to CBS News for its November 8 Face the Nation broadcast, in which he accused tobacco companies of using their ties to the administration to influence FDA decisions.

“Big tobacco exploited their connections to [the] administration and HHS officials to put repeated pressure on me to approve fruit-flavored vapes that appeal to children—I wouldn’t do it,” Makary told CBS.

The accusations come six months after the FDA authorized the first fruit-flavored e-cigarettes for the U.S. market, a decision reportedly contributing to Makary’s departure.

On May 5, the agency granted marketing authorization to Glas Inc. for its G2 vaping system, including mango- and blueberry-flavored pods sold as Gold and Sapphire, as well as two menthol varieties.

The FDA said Glas had demonstrated that its device access-restriction technology, combined with required marketing restrictions, was expected to sufficiently reduce youth access to support authorization.

The decision marked a significant shift in the agency’s treatment of fruit-flavored vaping products, which had previously faced a particularly high evidentiary burden because of concerns about youth appeal.

Nicotine Insider reported at the time that President Donald Trump had criticized Makary for moving too slowly on applications for flavored vapes and nicotine products. The disagreements over authorizations were a major factor in his resignation.

The latest controversy intensified after former HHS adviser Calley Means, in a November 8 CBS interview, accused senior administration officials of advancing industry interests at the expense of public health priorities. Means specifically alleged that White House officials had pressured the FDA to adopt a more permissive approach to flavored vaping products.

Former White House adviser James Blair disputed that characterization, telling CBS that his assignment was to improve the FDA’s application-review process, not to promote flavored vaping products. “I didn’t promote flavored vaping specifically at all,” Blair said, adding that he had been tasked with ensuring applicants received timely decisions under federal law.

CBS also reported that Susie Wiles, former White House chief of staff, denied involvement in arranging a meeting between tobacco industry representatives and Trump at Trump’s Florida golf club.

Makary’s departure was not attributed solely to vaping. Contemporary reporting also described disagreements over pharmaceutical reviews, abortion medication policy, and FDA management.

Makary has not publicly identified all the officials he alleges pressured him, and his accusations do not establish that the FDA’s marketing authorizations were the result of improper influence.

For the vaping industry, the controversy brings the FDA’s review process—and the political pressure surrounding it—back under scrutiny.