Ex-FDA Tobacco Chief Calls on Industry to Oppose Agency Layoffs

The former head of the FDA’s tobacco center during President Donald Trump’s first term, Mitch Zeller, is calling on the vaping and cigarette industry to object to the administration’s efforts to slash the agency’s workforce.

“It’s not good for the regulated industry,” Zeller said Monday at the E-Cigarette Summit, an annual meeting that explores the regulation and science of nicotine products.

“As a purely political matter, if you have access to the executive branch or the legislative branch, let them know that you share these concerns and that it’s coming purely from a commercial perspective, that it’s not good for ...