UPDATE 1-Trump's FDA nominee Makary promises role for vaccine expert committee

Makary, appearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for his confirmation hearing, said he was not involved in last week's decision to cancel the flu vaccine meeting, but committed to receiving regular outside views if confirmed. Health Secretary Robert F.

Martin Makary, President Donald Trump's nominee to run the U.S. FDA, on Thursday promised to convene the agency's vaccine advisory committee, but did not commit to rescheduling a canceled meeting to discuss the composition of the next seasonal flu vaccine. Makary, appearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for his confirmation hearing, said he was not involved in last week's decision to cancel the flu vaccine meeting, but committed to receiving regular outside views if confirmed.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a decades-long history of questioning the safety of vaccines. Under his watch, a second meeting by vaccine advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was also canceled. Asked about the abortion pill mifepristone, widely used in medical abortions but under assault by Republican-controlled states, Makary pledged to take a "solid, hard look" at data the FDA collects through its risk mitigation program on the drug.

Makary, a physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, would report to Kennedy as FDA is one of several high-profile agencies under the purview of the Health and Human Services secretary. Kennedy said during his own confirmation hearings that he wanted an FDA review of mifepristone data, which is sold in pharmacies and by mail. Its use has increased since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the landmark Roe v Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.

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