Opinion: Alaska’s healthcare decisions must be guided by science, not politics – Anchorage Daily News
As healthcare professionals practicing in Alaska, we understand better than most what happens when patients face unnecessary barriers to care.
Our state is vast. Many communities are not connected to the road system. Patients routinely travel hundreds of miles for medical appointments, contend with weather delays and limited transportation, and wait for specialists who may visit their communities only periodically. In Alaska, decisions made thousands of miles away in Washington can have immediate consequences for whether a patient can get timely care.
That is why we are deeply concerned about the nomination of Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — and why we believe Alaska’s senators should oppose her confirmation.
The FDA commissioner holds an extraordinary position of public trust. The agency makes decisions affecting the medications, vaccines and medical products we use with our patients every day. Those decisions must be based on rigorous scientific evidence, patient safety and sound medicine, not political ideology.
Overton’s public record raises serious questions about that standard.
Before joining the White House, Overton served as chief policy officer at the America First Policy Institute. In a 2023 policy paper, she criticized the FDA’s expansion of access to medication abortion through telehealth and advocated for additional restrictions, including in-person evaluations.
For healthcare professionals, it is important to distinguish the political debate surrounding a medication from the full range of ways that medication is used in clinical care.
Mifepristone has been FDA-approved for medication abortion for more than 25 years. It also plays an important role in miscarriage care. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that mifepristone be considered before misoprostol when it is available for medical management of early pregnancy loss because the combination can significantly improve treatment efficacy compared with misoprostol alone.
In other words, a medication commonly discussed in the political debate over abortion can also be part of the care a provider uses for a patient who is losing a pregnancy.
That distinction is particularly important in Alaska.
Patients in rural and remote communities may already need to travel significant distances to obtain specialized reproductive healthcare. Travel can mean airfare, lodging, childcare and time away from work. When someone is experiencing a miscarriage or another time-sensitive pregnancy complication, delays in appropriate care matter.
For those of us who care for patients, these are not abstract policy questions. Changes in federal regulation can affect the options available to clinicians and patients, particularly in communities where alternatives may already be difficult to access.
We recognize that Americans, including healthcare professionals, hold different personal views about abortion. But we should broadly agree on something more fundamental: The FDA’s decisions about the safety and availability of medications should follow the best available scientific evidence. More than 25 years of data and more than 100 peer-reviewed studies prove that mifepristone is safe and effective.
Scientific evidence is not an obstacle to overcome when it conflicts with a preferred policy outcome. It is the foundation on which safe medical practice depends.
That principle extends far beyond reproductive health.
The FDA oversees prescription drugs, vaccines, medical devices, food safety and thousands of other products Americans depend on. Every clinician needs to be able to trust that when the FDA evaluates a medication or treatment, its conclusions reflect rigorous scientific review rather than a predetermined political objective.
Questions about Overton’s nomination are not limited to reproductive health. Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate committee considering her nomination, has publicly raised “strong concerns” about her lack of managerial experience and her role in the administration’s childhood vaccine policy, which he described as “almost disqualifying.”
Those concerns underscore the larger issue before the Senate: whether the next FDA commissioner has the experience, judgment and demonstrated commitment to scientific independence necessary to lead one of the nation’s most important scientific agencies.
Alaskans already face substantial barriers to medical care. Federal health policy should not create additional barriers or inject political considerations into decisions that should be grounded in scientific evidence, safety and efficacy.
The FDA commissioner has enormous authority over medications, vaccines and medical products that healthcare professionals and patients depend on every day. The person entrusted with that responsibility must have the experience, judgment and demonstrated commitment to scientific independence that the position demands.
Based on Overton’s record, we do not believe she meets that standard.
We urge Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan to oppose Heidi Overton’s nomination to lead the FDA.
Alaska patients should be able to trust that decisions about the medications and treatments available to them are being made on the basis of the best available medical evidence — not political ideology. In a state where geography already makes accessing healthcare difficult, that principle is especially important.
Authors include Caitlin Brady, RN; Peggy Cobey, ANP; Bradley K. Cruz, MD, board-certified diagnostic radiologist; Mary P. DeMers, DO, MPH; Madeleine M. Grant, MD; Dawn Groth, RN, BSN; Melissa Hardesty, MD, MPH; Royal Kiehl, MD; Sally Kneeland, MSW; Alberta Laktonen, MD; Stephen Livingston, MD; Peter Mjos, MD; Barbara Norton, CNM, APRN; Patricia O’Gorman, RN, BSN, MPA; Donna Phillips, BSN, RN; Elizabeth Pietralczyk, MD; Megan Ritter, MD; Megan Soule, MD, Alaska Breast Care and Surgery; and Tina Tomsen, MD.
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