Acting FDA Commissioner Diamantas Calls Pro-Life Leaders Within Hours, Promises Mifepristone Review — Rare Disease Families Still Waiting

Diamantas Picks Up the Phone Immediately

Kyle Diamantas had barely settled into the acting commissioner chair when he started making calls.

Within hours of his appointment, he phoned Live Action President Lila Rose, Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins, and March for Life President Jennie Lichter, according to The Daily Signal. His message: the mifepristone safety review is a top priority, and the FDA will be more transparent about where that review stands.

This represented a shift from Makary's approach. Hawkins told The Daily Signal that Diamantas acknowledged the agency needed to be more transparent. Rose posted on X that Diamantas told her reviewing the abortion pill is "a top priority for him and the administration."

The Planned Parenthood Problem — Addressed Head-On

Pro-life groups immediately raised the fact that Diamantas, as a young lawyer, once represented Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando in a court case.

Diamantas addressed it directly with Rose. According to Rose's account posted on X, he said he was assigned to the case by his law firm, performed work on it, regretted it, asked his superiors to remove him, and opposes abortion on moral grounds.

What Actually Triggered the Makary Exit

For readers who missed prior coverage: Makary resigned May 12, 2026. The immediate trigger, according to a source close to HHS leadership cited by NBC News, was the FDA's announcement authorizing fruit-flavored vapes — a decision Makary opposed. He chose to quit rather than defend that policy before Congress the next day.

But mifepristone was the slow-burning issue. According to CNBC, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America had formally called for Makary's ouster over his handling of the abortion pill review. And according to NBC News, officials inside HHS were actively pushing Makary to impose tighter restrictions on mifepristone — pressure he apparently resisted.

RFK Jr. made the final call to replace him, a senior administration official confirmed to CNBC.

The Review Itself: What Does It Actually Involve?

Makary and RFK Jr. had pledged a safety review of mifepristone following a study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center showing 11% of women experience adverse effects after taking the pill regimen. That study is the basis for the entire push.

The review has NOT been released. No timeline has been given publicly. What Diamantas is promising, for now, is more communication with pro-life groups about where the process stands — NOT a completed review, NOT new restrictions, NOT a rollback of Biden-era mail dispensing rules.

The Story No One Is Leading With: Duchenne Families Left Behind

While the abortion pill fight dominates the headlines, Angelina Olivera of Texas wants the new FDA leadership to hear something different.

Her 14-year-old son Ryu has Duchenne muscular dystrophy — the same disease that killed her brothers Angelo and Antonio in their early 20s. The disease destroys muscles progressively. It is fatal.

There is now a gene therapy called Elevidys that can slow DMD's progression. The FDA restricts it to ambulatory patients — meaning kids who can still walk. Ryu uses a wheelchair. The FDA has effectively decided he doesn't qualify, according to Olivera's op-ed in The Daily Signal.

Olivera was scheduled to travel from Texas to D.C. on May 12 to attend a Senate hearing on the FDA budget. That hearing was canceled because Makary resigned the same day.

She did NOT get to shake Ted Cruz's hand. Her son did NOT get to tell a senator what it's like to live with a terminal diagnosis. And the Elevidys restriction is still in place.

CNBC noted Makary's tenure included "high-profile rejections of some rare disease treatments." That statement represents a real family's real nightmare.

What Diamantas Actually Is — And Isn't

Diamantas is a lawyer. He does not hold a medical degree, as NBC News noted. His background is in food regulation, not drug safety or clinical medicine.

He is a temporary placeholder. The Trump administration told CNBC it hopes to name a permanent nominee "in the coming weeks" — with the caveat that it's "too early to name potential replacements."

The agency overseeing every drug, food product, and medical device in America is being run by a non-physician on a temporary basis, with no confirmed permanent leader in sight, while simultaneously being asked to:

• Conduct a politically explosive mifepristone safety review
• Reconsider gene therapy access restrictions for rare disease patients
• Navigate the fallout from the flavored vape authorization that ended Makary's career

What Comes Next

Diamantas is saying the right things to the right people. Pro-life leaders are cautiously optimistic. Rare disease families are still waiting — and they've been waiting longer, with more to lose.

Diamantas gets credit for showing up on Day One and making the calls. Whether he can deliver on the promises remains to be seen.