STAT September 5, 2025
These panels are a retreat from transparency, scientific rigor, and public accountability
Americans trust the Food and Drug Administration to make life-and-death decisions in the open. Yet in recent months, the agency has increasingly convened ad-hoc “expert panels” that meet without Federal Register notice, formal transcripts, standard conflict of interest reviews, or recorded votes. These expert panels have been tapped to help reshape policy on talc safety, infant formula, hormone replacement, and antidepressant therapy — without the guardrails that have long protected patients, markets, and the FDA’s reputation.
I’ve chaired or served on more than a dozen FDA advisory committees over two decades as a physician-scientist and drug safety expert. This shift from advisory committees to “expert” panels isn’t bureaucratic...
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