Hahn, HHS in tit for tat feud over Covid-19 messaging – POLITICO

Hahn has instructed staff: no more mistakes, said an official. The next few announcements have to be flawless.

Polls show that nearly a fifth of adults would refuse a coronavirus vaccine if one were available, in some cases over fears that any approval would be motivated by politics rather than science. Just 14 percent of voters would be more likely to take a vaccine recommended by Trump, according to a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

The FDA has been heavily scrutinized as regulators speed coronavirus therapies and potential vaccines, including its March decision to grant emergency authorization for a Trump-favored drug called hydroxychloroquine despite scant data that it worked to fight the virus. FDA subsequently withdrew the authorization after evidence the treatment didnt work, prompting public objections from the president.

Watchdogs and researchers again criticized the agency last week for its news release on the plasma authorization titled, Another Achievement in Administrations Fight Against Pandemic which many people within the FDA considered a breach of the agencys historic focus on science and for overstating the treatments effectiveness.

Hahn took to Twitter last Monday night to apologize for exaggerating the benefits of plasma, angering Azar, Caputo and other senior Trump administration officials. HHS officials the next day began the process of severing Hahns contract with Wayne Pines, a longtime APCO Worldwide executive and the communications consultant who advised him to make the apology.

HHS chief of staff Brian Harrison told POLITICO that the cancellation of Pines contract was routine, because it violated department protocols, and the department has been reviewing thousands of contracts, many of which are in the process of being canceled.

The timing was 100 percent coincidence and the cancellation was made by HHS at the recommendation of the HHS general counsel, Harrison said, adding that Azar was completely unaware of any contract with Wayne Pines.

Three senior officials also said FDA had not previously informed HHS leadership, including Caputo, about the contract with Pines.

Bringing someone on doesnt mean as a contractor, said a senior HHS official. If ever mentioned, the secretary wouldve assumed it was as an employee and that the operating division wouldve followed the appropriate hiring process.

However, three current and two former officials said that it was well-known by HHS leadership that Pines had been advising Hahn for months. Three people with knowledge of the situation said Azars own relationship with Pines dated back several years.

"Wayne Pines was an instrumental leader in Secretary Azar's confirmation hearing process," said a senior HHS official, who said that Azar consulted with Pines and worked out of his conference room at APCO Worldwide while preparing to become HHS secretary in 2017 and 2018.

Hahn asked for permission to bring Pines on board under contract in a meeting with Azar in late April, the senior official added, noting that FDA at the time was without a full-time media chief and Pines was a published author on FDA and crisis communications. This was the right guy at the right time.

The process of removing Pines last week was not coincidental, the senior official insisted. "Wayne was scapegoated by certain FDA officials for Hahn's apology tour." Pines was formally notified on Wednesday that his services would no longer be necessary, the senior official added.

Hahn subsequently ousted Emily Miller, the White House-installed spokesperson for FDA, who had no prior public health experience and had clashed with multiple officials, including Caputo, in her 11-day tenure. Two people close to the situation also said Miller played a key role in titling last weeks plasma announcement as a Trump administration achievement. While Miller will remain at the agency, her future position is still under consideration, but will likely be senior adviser to the commissioner, said four people familiar with the discussions.

Meanwhile, John Wolf Wagner who was removed as FDAs external affairs chief on Wednesday after just two months in that role is a close ally of Caputo, who officials say had served as Wagners effective boss.

Wolf is a very nice manzero FDA experience, said one senior health official. He has made it very clear that he does not take direction from Hahn.

Officials said both Wagner and Miller, a former reporter at the right-wing One America News Network, had frequently butted heads with the career civil servants in the FDA press office.

For instance, Wagner instructed the press shop that every response to reporters coronavirus-related or otherwise had to be brief, top-line statements, said one current FDA official.

Wagner and Miller also were against press officers speaking directly with reporters and often questioned staff when they worked on announcements that were unrelated to the pandemic, the official added, creating an additional logjam for staff who had to explain why other food and drug policy announcements were newsworthy. Its been very chaotic and confusing, the official said.

The latest news in health care politics and policy.

Current and former officials say the Trump administration has hampered its own message by installing political appointees with limited public health expertise during a pandemic.

Longtime communications hands have called on the health department to rely on experts in medical and scientific communications given the crisis.

They can be the best damn practitioners of communications, but if they've never done science or medicine, thats a problem, said Bill Pierce, who served as HHS top spokesperson during the George W. Bush administration and who now works at APCO. Science and medical communications is an art you have to know and understand the terrain. Its not just pronouncing funny words.

At stake: convincing Americans they can trust treatments devised by the Trump administration, even as messaging blunders consume disparate parts of the health department and questions swirl about their independence.

Youve got a public relations disaster at FDA, youve got a public relations disaster at CDC, and no one seems to be controlling the message, said a senior official. HHS is losing the PR narrative here.

Meanwhile, two career civil servants with years of FDA expertise have temporarily replaced Wagner and Miller in FDAs top communications roles, a move that drew bipartisan applause.

This is a huge relief, tweeted Rob Califf, a former FDA commissioner during the Obama administration a message swiftly seconded by Scott Gottlieb, Trumps former commissioner. Hahn himself praised the shift.

Thanks for your support of our career communicators, the FDA commissioner tweeted. They are top-notch professionals who understand our science-based mission.

Nonetheless, the White House is considering political appointees to potentially replace Wagner and Miller, said two individuals with knowledge of personnel plans.

More:

Hahn, HHS in tit for tat feud over Covid-19 messaging - POLITICO