The Food and Medicines Administration has destroyed a responsible division of training the agency staff and health professionals outside of health in a variety of key public health practices, regulation and safety and professional support for employees, as CNBC has learned.
In an email seen by CNBC, workers were notified that the Division of Learning and Organizational Development, or DLOD, faces cuts under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s broader plan to restructure the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS. All the more than 30 employees of the division were fired. While it was a small team within the FDA, it was a key resource for the entire agency and external doctors, nurses, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, among other professionals.
Kennedy is reducing 10,000 jobs in HHS, including approximately 3,500 full -time employees in the FDA, to focus on what HHS called “optimize operations and centralize administrative functions.” FDA is responsible for regulating and supervising the security, efficacy and safety of human and veterinary drugs, medical devices, food and cosmetics, among other articles.
HHS has said that the cuts in the agency will not affect the inspectors or reviewers of drugs, medical devices or food, and that workers who have unnecessary responsibilities will be considered mainly. But the reports suggest that the Trump administration is eliminating some employees who played a key role in the protection of public health, such as the main veterinarians who supervise the response of the FDA avian flu in the middle of sprouts in dairy cows of birds and the United States, along with several recent human cases.
Kennedy last week said that part of the staff and programs in federal agencies affected by their radical reductions will be reinstated, but it is not clear if that includes DLOD employees. The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The division is canceling all planned activities, including scientific and regulatory education together with leadership and organizational development, according to email. It is also discarding the processing and approval of the so -called continuing education activities throughout the FDA, which refers to formal educational programs that help the agency staff and external health professionals to keep up to date on the practices of medical science, public health and regulatory, said email.
For example, some programs trained agency and external doctors, nurses and pharmacists on opioid safety, avoiding medication errors, infectious and rare diseases, clinical trials and the use of artificial intelligence to support regulatory decisions, according to two FDA employees, who requested anonymity to speak freely. The division also made monthly presentations to highlight research throughout the agency, as a recent study on tobacco use, and its impact on the protection of public health, employees said.
Now there is no staff available to grant credits or points to complete approved educational activities, such as conferences, online modules or workshops, according to an FDA employee. Depending on the State, health professionals must obtain a certain amount of credits every year or license cycle to maintain their credentials and keep up with knowledge and medical standards.
The FDA is also losing a central resource that employees can go for professional development and training.
“With the elimination of DLOD, there is great uncertainty about how students and professionals will adapt,” said one of the FDA employees. “They are now responsible for finding and selecting their own courses independently, which can result in confusion or inefficiency.”
According to the two FDA employees, an office in the division was fully financed by the so -called user rates, no taxpayers' dollars, according to the two FDA employees. The FDA collects those companies that produce certain products such as medicines and medical devices and other entities, such as certain certification agencies.
The Trump administration has cited federal cost savings as part of its justification to fire HHS employees, raising doubts about why it addressed that unit.
The office, known as the Education and Continuous Consultation Accreditation Team, was the only group within the FDA authorized to issue credits to both FDA employees and external health professionals, the two employees said. The office included six workers, all of whom will lose their jobs.
The office was also the only unit “jointly accredited” within the FDA, which means that it was qualified to provide training in different medical care disciplines, said the employee.
