Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced widespread cuts at federal health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, which eliminates overlapping services and paper pushers.

However, interviews with more than a dozen current and former FDA staff featured another photo of the widespread impact of layoffs that ultimately cut the agency’s workforce by 20%. Among them are experts who have navigated the maze of law to determine whether expensive drugs can be sold as low-cost generics. Lab scientists who tested food and drugs for contaminants or fatal bacteria. Veterinary department experts investigating avian flu infections. Researchers who monitored advertisements that were aired for false claims about prescription drugs.

In many areas of the FDA, no employee will support overseas inspectors at risk of processing their pay, submitting retirement or layoff documents, or making the most of their agency’s credit card. Even libraries of institutions that relied on subscriptions to medical journals where researchers and experts were now cancelled have been closed.

FDA’s new commissioner, Dr. Marty McCurry, appeared on Wednesday in a much-anticipated appearance at Maryland headquarters. He gave a speech outlining a wide range of issues in the health care system, including an increase in chronic diseases. Employees were not given a formal opportunity to ask questions.

Approximately 3,500 FDA employees are expected to lose employment under the cuts. A spokesman for Health and Human Services did not answer the question.

When the Trump administration ran its first round with the FDA in February, it thwarted a team of scientists who did the nuanced job of ensuring the safety of surgical robots and devices injecting insulin into diabetic children. Some of the layoffs and cuts described as arbitrary volition by former FDA officials have quickly reversed.

Dr. David Kessler, a former agent committee member on the pandemic response under President Biden and White House adviser, said the latest round of layoffs has been deprived of decades of important experience and knowledge from the institution.

“I think it’s devastating, coincidence, thoughtful and confused,” he said. “I think they need to be revoked.”

It remains uncertain whether any of the lost jobs will be restored by the regime. In the interview, 15 current and former staff members spoke on condition of anonymity, some of whom spoke and explained the expected layoffs and expected impacts on food, drugs and medical supplies, fearing unemployment or retaliation.