The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) chief tobacco regulator Brian King was removed from his post Tuesday, part of the latest wave of cuts to the federal health workforce that oversees food, drugs, vaccines and products containing nicotine, reported the Associated Press.
King notified his staff in an email: “It is with a heavy heart and profound disappointment that I share I have been placed on administrative leave.”
“Dozens of other employees in FDA’s tobacco center also received notices Tuesday morning that they were being dismissed, including two entire offices responsible for drafting new tobacco regulations and setting policy,” wrote AP.
During King’s time at FDA, teen vaping fell to a 10-year low, according to the outlet.
Under King, the FDA “rejected applications for millions of flavored e-cigarettes, citing insufficient data that the products would help adult smokers.” Those rejections have resulted in multiple lawsuits against FDA from vape makers, including one that was argued before the Supreme Court in December.