ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Probationary CDRH staff called back, but more layoffs could be coming. Excerpted from Pathways’ Picks February 26: CDRH Staff Called Back, But More Cuts Might Come, eIFUs in the EU, and Global Picks.
One week after more than 200 “probationary” employees from FDA’s device center received notices terminating their employment, some of them reportedly received calls this past weekend reinstating their positions. There are no official figures on how many people the agency laid off, what proportion have been called back, and who agreed to return. Reports suggest many of the 100-plus fired reviewers who conduct work funded by MDUFA V user fees have been offered their jobs back. “I’m happy to be back to work supporting the Agency’s mission,” Nathan Weidenhammer, PhD, a reviewer in FDA’s Office of Cardiovascular Devices, wrote in a February 25 LinkedIn post announcing his reinstatement. Sandi Supinda Watcharotone, PhD, another cardiovascular device reviewer, also announced her return in a same-day post. “I reluctantly accepted worrying what the future holds for federal workers,” she said. The rescissions came after AdvaMed sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warning that the cuts, which disproportionately impacted CDRH over the drug and biologic centers, would hurt patient care and undermine gains made by the device user fee agreement.
But even as the device center brought back some reviewers that has been terminated in the action targeting employees designated as probationary, the Trump administration is signaling plans for broader actions to cut the size of the federal government. On February 26, the White House Office of Personal Management issued a memo guiding all federal agencies on how to comply with a February 11 executive order from President Trump directing “preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force (RIFs), consistent with applicable law.”
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