FDA nominee Heidi Overton faces Senate questions on vaccines and mifepristone

President Donald Trump’s FDA commissioner nominee, Heidi Overton, faced questions at a Senate confirmation hearing about vaccines, mifepristone and whether she would follow the law if the White House pressed her to change agency policy. She said she would give the president her best advice and follow statutory requirements for the FDA commissioner’s role.

Overton described the MMR vaccine as safe and effective and the best tool in the public health response to the measles outbreak, according to NPR and Healthcare Dive. She said the FDA had determined mifepristone was safe and effective, but that she would not prejudge the agency’s ongoing safety review. NPR reported that Overton had called the drug dangerous in a 2023 paper. Senators also questioned her after Trump called the MMR vaccine potentially quite lethal while she stood behind him. If confirmed, she would need support from the Senate health committee and a positive vote from the full Senate, MedPage Today reported.