When Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced sweeping job cuts at his department last month, he said that safety inspectors who oversee U.S. foods and drugs wouldn't be impacted.
Those employees remain at the Food and Drug Administration, but dozens of others who supported their work are gone. The departed staffers include people who booked complex international trips to remote Indian pharmaceutical plants, lab scientists who tested food samples for contamination, and communication specialists who alerted the public to urgent safety recalls.
