Top CDC officials quit, with one condemning ‘ongoing weaponization of public health’ – US politics live

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Inside Medicine, a newsletter written by Jeremy Faust, a public health researcher and emergency medicine physician, just published the full text of email statements three CDC leaders who resigned on Wednesday sent to their colleagues to explain their reasons for leaving the US public health agency after its new director abruptly departed.

The most explosive charge came from Dr Demetre Daskalakis, who stepped down as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponizing of public health. You are the best team I have ever worked with, and you continue to shine despite this dark cloud over the agency and our profession”, Daskalakis wrote. “Please take care of yourself and your teams and make the right decisions for yourselves.”

“For the good of the nation and the world, the science at CDC should never be censored or subject to political pauses or interpretations”, Dr Deb Houry, the agency’s chief medical officer wrote. “Vaccines save lives—this is an indisputable, well-established, scientific fact. Informed consent and shared decision-making must focus not only on the risks but also on the true, life-saving benefits that vaccines provide to individuals and communities. It is, of course, important to question, analyze, and review research and surveillance, but this must be done by experts with the right skills and experience, without bias, and considering the full weight of scientific evidence. Recently, the overstating of risks and the rise of misinformation have cost lives, as demonstrated by the highest number of U.S. measles cases in 30 years and the violent attack on our agency.”

Houry’s statement seemed like a clear response to recent statements and actions to limit access to vaccines by the anti-vaccine health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Dr Daniel Jernigan, who resigned as director of the premiere US center for the study of emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases, told colleagues: “I believe strongly in the mission of public health and the leadership that CDC has given for almost 80 years; however, given the current context in the Department, I feel it is best for me to offer my resignation.”

Jernigan, whose center included the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office, testified to Congress last year that the CDC estimates that the vaccination of children born between 1994 and 2021 “will prevent 472 million illnesses and 29.8 million hospitalizations, help avoid 1,052,000 deaths, and save nearly $2.2 trillion in total societal costs.”

He also pointed to research that, as of November 2022, Covid-19 vaccines had “saved more than 3.2 million lives in the United States, prevented more than 18.5 million hospitalizations, and averted over $1.15 trillion in healthcare costs.”

CDC immunization director cites 'ongoing weaponization of public health' for resignation – report

“I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health,” Dr Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned on Wednesday from his position as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC told colleagues in an email obtained by STAT, a health news site.

Those concerns were echoed by another departing CDC leader, Dr Deb Houry, the chief medical officer, who wrote that “ongoing changes prevent me from continuing in my job as a leader of the agency” adding that science should “never be censored or subject to political interpretations”.

The two CDC leaders, and their colleague Daniel Jernigan, who ran the Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, quit the agency after the abrupt departure of Susan Monarez, the Senate-confirmed director of the CDC.

US officials announced on Wednesday the departure of the director of the nation’s top public health agency, after less than one month in the job.

“Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people,” the US Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a statement posted on social media.

HHS officials did not explain why Monarez is no longer with the agency. Before the announcement was made, Monarez told the Associated Press: “I can’t comment.”

Three senior CDC officials resign after new director Susan Monarez leaves

Three senior officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resigned on Wednesday after the new CDC director Susan Monarez, abruptly left the agency.

Shortly after the US Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, announced on social media that Monarez “is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”, at least three CDC leaders resigned: Dr Debra Houry, the chief medical officer; Dr Daniel Jernigan, the director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; and Dr Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

There was no immediate explanation for why any of the senior leaders have left the top US public health agency. Monarez was sworn in just four weeks ago.