Podcast Summary: Full Measure After Hours

Episode: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary on Kids Killed by Covid Vaccine and a Sea Change in Drug Ads

Host: Sharyl Attkisson
Guest: Dr. Marty Makary, FDA Commissioner
Date: September 11, 2025

Episode Overview

In this probing interview, Sharyl Attkisson speaks with FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary about sweeping reforms at the agency following public outcry over the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Topics include a bold crackdown on misleading drug advertisements, transparency regarding children harmed by COVID vaccines, overhauls in food regulation (including bans on harmful food dyes), and an inside look at systemic changes—both in policy and agency culture—aimed at addressing the root causes of America’s health crisis.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Makary's Background & Perspective

• Background: Dr. Makary spent 22 years as a surgical oncologist and public health researcher at Johns Hopkins, with additional experience at Georgetown, Harvard, Jefferson, and Bucknell.
• Focus: His career has targeted holistic health, challenging medical dogma, health policy reform, and the need to address underlying causes of poor health in America—not just treat symptoms.

  “Why do we keep throwing good money after bad into this broken system and not talk about the root causes of why our population is so unhealthy?” (03:06)

2. Systemic Issues in U.S. Public Health

• Government’s Historical Approach: Makary criticizes the U.S. for playing “whack-a-mole”—reacting to disease when advanced, rather than addressing root causes in nutrition, the environment, and food supply.

  “No one was really talking about food as medicine... Nobody talked about the microbiome... 40% of our kids in the United States have a chronic disease. Is this a willpower problem or is this something adults are doing to kids?” (03:27)

• FDA’s Expanded Focus: The agency oversees a wide swath of public goods—foods, drugs, devices, vape products, and now focuses on emerging threats like microplastics and the epidemic of youth medication.

3. Crackdown on Misleading Drug Advertising

• Previous Lax Enforcement: Enforcement of drug ad regulations plummeted from 130 letters/year in the late 1990s to essentially none in recent years.
• New Policy: Massive expansion of enforcement, thousands of warning letters being sent to pharmaceutical advertisers.

  “We are in charge of making sure that claims by pharmaceutical companies match the data, that you're not misleading Americans with these ads. And so we're going to crack down.” (06:16)

• Target Areas:
  • Misleading direct-to-consumer TV ads, especially those that omit risks or use euphoric imagery without disclosure.
  • Paid social media influencer promotions lacking side effect information.
  • Closing of regulatory loopholes that allowed “educational” vaccine advertising with no mention of risks (10:51).
  • Focus on preserving First Amendment rights while ensuring factual accuracy and risk disclosure.

  “We're cracking down on drug ads to the maximum extent of our regulation while preserving first amendment rights... I wouldn't call it a ban.” (08:31)

• Impact Expectation: Makary predicts some drugs will be removed from advertising due to required full disclosure of risks.

  “There are drugs that have serious risks and people are not aware of those risks... and that is something that we have to take a close look at.” (10:07)

4. Transparency and Data on COVID Vaccine-Related Child Deaths

• Upcoming Report: The FDA is preparing a public, transparent report on child deaths associated with the COVID vaccine, detailing investigations into VAERS reports, contact with families and doctors, and autopsy reviews.

  “Kids have died from the COVID vaccine and you're going to see a full report coming out in the coming weeks on that.” (13:55)

• Scientific Approach: Emphasis on “gold-standard science” and the need for clear data to inform parents, particularly about repeated vaccination in children.

5. Food Regulation Overhaul

• Banning Harmful Food Dyes: Red dye is already banned (with enactment effective 2027), and Makary wants all petroleum-based dyes removed from the food supply.

  “Red dye is banned and it is banned in a regulation that's set to take place in 2027... I don't feel comfortable with petroleum based dyes of any color being in the US food supply for children.” (17:06)

• Industry Approach: FDA prefers voluntary company commitments but will use regulatory levers if necessary; awareness campaigns and public pressure are driving rapid changes among food companies.
• Further Regulatory Steps: Rewriting the outdated and biased food pyramid, removing outdated dietary recommendations, and focusing government food assistance (SNAP) on healthier choices.

6. Cultural Change and Agency Reform

• Internal Reshaping: Former industry employees removed from FDA advisory panels.
• Staff Morale: FDA scientists feel “liberated” by new leadership; previously “afraid of the food companies,” now able to speak out and act on long-held concerns.

  “It's fun. An amazing and a milestone moment in American healthcare where you're seeing now the scientists liberated to speak truth, to see what they've always believed in get some airtime.” (18:40)

• New Focus Areas: Women’s health, transparency on SSRIs in pregnancy, baby formula reform, and incentives to create healthier processed foods.

7. Accelerating Drug & Device Approval

• Efficient Approval Process: Introduction of a fast-track program to approve breakthrough cures (e.g., for type 1 diabetes, certain cancers, PTSD) within weeks instead of years. Use of AI, real-world evidence, and reduced animal testing.

  “If you have the cure for breast cancer, do we really think women should wait 10 years for the drug to go through the full regulatory process?” (21:40)

8. Empowering the Public

• Changing Public Attitudes: Enormous growth in grassroots consumer awareness—restaurant patrons and shoppers demanding transparency; increasing use of glucose monitors for personal health insight.
• Prevention Focus: Beyond medication costs, the agency is redirecting attention towards environmental and dietary prevention of chronic diseases.

  “We've got to talk about how to prevent diabetes, not just talk about the price of insulin.” (24:25)

9. On Ozempic and Wegovy

• Careful Endorsement: Acknowledges some health benefits, but castigates the medical and food system for pushing children towards medicalized solutions while failing to address diet, school routines, and societal choices that promote illness.

  “We have created a highly addictive ultra processed food system... watched them develop rates of prediabetes and insulin resistance now in American kids of 31% and then tell them, take this drug. That's immoral.” (24:38)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On misleading drug ads:

  “Why doesn't your doctor tell you about the options? They're never advertising generic drugs. They're advertising drugs that are super expensive...”
  (07:13) - Dr. Makary

• On the rationale for bold action:

  “We're going big and we're going bold. And that charge comes from President Trump who has said do what's right and don't worry about what the lobbyists and the corporations might tell you.”
  (09:39) - Dr. Makary

• On transformative change at FDA:

  “The FDA has a history of being a broken agency that at times has been captured by the same industry it's supposed to regulate. And so that ended the day we came into office.”
  (14:30) - Dr. Makary

• On the ethics of America’s food and medical systems:

  “We are poisoning our nation's kids at scale and then drugging them. And so we've got to stop and ask what are we doing?”
  (15:51) - Dr. Makary

• On the optimism in public health:

  “It's an exciting time in health. And this is really thanks to the Maha movement... We've got to talk about how to prevent diabetes, not just talk about the price of insulin.”
  (23:11, 24:25) - Dr. Makary

Important Segment Timestamps

• Intro & Overview: 00:04–02:07
• Dr. Makary's Background & Systemic Health Issues: 02:07–04:22
• FDA Purview & New Initiatives: 04:22–05:47
• Drug Advertising Enforcement & Loophole Closure: 05:47–12:02
• COVID Vaccine Child Death Investigation: 12:02–14:00
• Food Dye and Ultra-Processed Food Regulation: 14:00–18:29
• Agency Culture & Pushback: 18:29–20:35
• FDA’s Vision & Fast-Track Approvals: 20:37–22:41
• Empowering Public Health Choices: 22:41–24:26
• Views on Weight Loss Drugs: 24:26–26:22

Tone and Language

The conversation is frank, bold, and reform-minded. Dr. Makary combines scientific rigor with a sense of urgency and moral clarity, challenging the medical and food industry status quo. Sharyl Attkisson maintains her investigative, nonpartisan voice, pressing for accountability and public transparency.

Conclusion

This episode marks a pivotal moment in American public health policy and FDA regulation. With candid admissions about past failures and a detailed agenda for reform, Commissioner Makary lays out sweeping changes—from ensuring honest drug advertising to full transparency about vaccine injuries, cleaning up America’s food supply, and fast-tracking lifesaving treatments. Listeners gain a rare, behind-the-scenes look at a government agency in the throes of generational change.