A physician, author, and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, he went from prominent COVID-era critic to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) insider when he was tapped to lead the agency's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research in May 2025.
uncertain
he → go → May
His tenure there included an abrupt resignation in July 2025, a return a few weeks later, and his final departure in April 2026.
asserted
tenure → include → April
Prasad joined Reason's Zach Weissmueller in August to discuss what he learned from his time inside the FDA, what he was able—and unable—to change, and whether the agency can ever regain public trust.
asserted
agency → join → trust
Their conversation ranges from Anthony Fauci and the origins of COVID-19 to vaccine policy, plus regulatory barriers, his growing sympathy for libertarian critiques of the FDA, and whether the agency is ready for an era of AI-driven medicine.
asserted
agency → range → medicine
The FDA saw a clearing out of the old guard and a replacement with a new one—COVID dissidents such as yourself, former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya.
asserted
FDA → see → Health
Did you have any misgivings about stepping away from academia and your role as an outside critic to join the public health bureaucracy?
asserted
you → have → bureaucracy
Maybe we changed 4 percent, 2 percent of the FDA.
asserted
we → change → FDA
Before Marty, the commissioner, and I got there, DOGE [the Department of Government Efficiency] had just struck and they got rid of a couple thousand people.
asserted
they → get → people
Although Marty, Jay, and I are critics of many aspects of the response, we don't go as far as some of the most extreme critics out there.
asserted
we → go → critics
Am I glad I did it?
asserted
I → do → it
Yes, I'm glad I did it.
asserted
I → do → it
I learned more in one year than I'd learned in the prior decade about how the world works.
asserted
world → learn → decade
I'm glad to have improved some aspects of government, which I think will be enduring, and at least tried to improve other aspects of government, which may not be enduring.
uncertain
which → improve → government
Anthony Fauci personified the old guard.
asserted
Fauci → personify → guard
He's recently been in the news because he appeared before Congress and pleaded the Fifth after Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) published his diary.
asserted
Paul → appear → diary
What did those diary entries reveal to you about Fauci's character and about the way he operated?
asserted
he → reveal → way
Probably the greatest news story is that the mainstream media refuses to be honest about his legacy.
asserted
media → refuse → legacy
Fauci was in his late 70s when the pandemic began.
asserted
pandemic → begin → 70s
Had he retired at a ripe old age of 75, he'd be leaving behind a stellar legacy.
asserted
he → retire → legacy
But he continued.
asserted
he → continue → ?
He pushed it.
asserted
He → push → it
He stayed through the whole pandemic.
asserted
He → stay → pandemic
He was the face of many things that his diaries get into, what he privately thought while he was publicly saying different things.
asserted
he → get → things
Fauci has not only been a proponent that the only answer to where the virus came from is a natural spillover event.
asserted
virus → come → where
He's gone further than that.
asserted
He → go → that
He orchestrated a paper published in Nature Medicine called the "Proximal Origin" paper, written by a bunch of people who bolstered that point of view.
asserted
who → orchestrate → view
He edited that paper before it was published.
asserted
it → edit → paper
Then in public, he pretended like he didn't know those people; it was an independent group that validated what he was saying.
asserted
he → pretend → what
Whereas in many respects, he puppeted that paper.
asserted
he → puppete → paper
The people who wrote that paper—Rand Paul has released their Slack channel messages showing they didn't really even believe what they were writing.
asserted
they → write → what
Their messages reveal considerable ambiguity about lab leak vs. natural spillover event.
asserted
messages → reveal → event
In terms of the origin, he also funded EcoHealth Alliance, which had a subcontract to Wuhan.
asserted
which → fund → Wuhan
He had a huge role in the origins and trying to frame the narrative, making lab leak—you couldn't even discuss it.
asserted
you → have → it
Facebook put a ban on even talking about the topic.
asserted
Facebook → put → topic
He played a huge role in that.
asserted
He → play → that
He said he didn't close any schools.
asserted
he → say → schools
In his own diary, he says, "I told [Mayor] Bill de Blasio, you need to close schools in New York City."
asserted
you → say → City
At some point, the man's got to take ownership over the decisions he did make and advocated for.
asserted
he → get → decisions
When [Gov. Ron] DeSantis in Florida reopened schools in 2020, he went on every television show to say what a bad idea that was.
asserted
that → reopen → show
Now, it's very clear—many of us said so at the time—school reopening was always the right decision.
asserted
reopening → say → time
…and 159 more, not listed.
The Aporia
