U.S. Food and Drug Administration building is seen between two trees. -- health policy coverage from STAT
Jose Luis Magana/AP

Lizzy Lawrence leads STAT’s coverage of the Food and Drug Administration. She was previously a medical devices reporter. You can reach Lizzy on Signal at lizzylaw.53.

AdvaMed, the medical device lobby, pushed back Wednesday on the Trump administration’s weekend firings of Food and Drug Administration employees. 

AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker sent a letter Tuesday to administrators at the Health and Human Services Department urging them to consider the terminations’ potential ramifications on patient health and medical device innovation. In a call with reporters on Wednesday, he noted that many of the roles were funded, at least in part, by fees paid by device makers to help speed the review of their products. Device companies have already noticed delays, he said.

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“We’ve heard from folks who have already gotten notice that current applications may be delayed or suspended,” Whitaker said. “It’s coming in multiple areas.”

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