CDC Vets Ring Alarm
Nine erstwhile US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention directors have claimed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is disassembling the agency and threatening public safety. In a sharply worded New York Times essay, they stated that Kennedy’s actions are “putting every American’s health at risk,” warning that political meddling has hit unprecedented levels in the agency’s history.
Their words come on the heels of the sudden termination of CDC Director Susan Monarez last week by President Donald Trump, allegedly following a confrontation with Kennedy regarding vaccination policies. Monarez’s firing prompted at least four resignations by top officials, exacerbating upheaval within the country’s leading public health organization.
“Unlike Anything We Have Ever Seen”
The collective essay, which was signed by nine previous leaders that worked under every US president since Jimmy Carter, criticized Kennedy’s role in transforming the agency. They mentioned the dismissal of thousands of federal health workers, the reduction of pivotal disease-prevention programs, and his use of untested medical treatments during the nation’s largest measles outbreak in decades.
What Kennedy has done to the CDC and the public health system of the nation is unprecedented,” the essay stated. His former directors also condemned his support for legislation that would leave millions of Americans without health insurance coverage, labelling the agenda “unacceptable” and calling on citizens from both sides of the aisle to pay attention.
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Science vs. Ideology
The outcry is in response to a growing crisis at the CDC, long held up as an institution of independence. Demetre Daskalakis, who quit in protest following Monarez’s ouster, cautioned that the firewall between scientific integrity and politics had “totally collapsed.”
Former acting CDC director Dr. Anne Schuchat called the churn eroding decades of bipartisan public health gains. “This should concern every American, no matter the political persuasion,” she added.
The storm over Kennedy highlights more general worries over the politicization of American health institutions. Amidst widespread public distrust already undermined by the pandemic and vaccine controversies, the agency is now confronting one of the most serious crises of legitimacy in its history.
