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Dr. George Tidmarsh, the head of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug division, said he was placed on administrative leave on Friday after he had raised concerns about the legal basis of a new program for the rapid approval of some new drugs. Dr. Tidmarsh, a drug industry veteran who joined the agency in July, said in an interview Sunday that he believed the new program injected politics into the drug review program, superseding decisions based on science. He was placed on leave Friday pending the outcome of an investigation by the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services. On Sunday, he said that he believed the inquiry was a form of retaliation and that he had offered his resignation. Dr. Tidmarsh also said that he did not want to work in a toxic environment that he attributed to Dr. Vinay Prasad, the agency’s chief medical and scientific officer, who also oversees vaccines and gene therapies. Dr. Prasad was ousted from the agency in July but brought back. A health department spokesman did not immediately respond to questions. The tumult at the F.D.A. is just the latest in a series of ousters, firings and high-profile disagreements under the nation’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Several of his top staff members were pushed out or resigned in recent months. The most high-profile so far was the firing of Susan Monarez after she had served only a month as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She told senators that she was fired after she had refused to sign off on recommendations from Mr. Kennedy’s vaccine advisory panel, which he has filled with mainly vaccine skeptics. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
