Dr. Daskalakis: “When Secretary Kennedy and his staff say gold standard science, they mean bypassing the scientific process. When they say radical transparency, they mean promoting propaganda. The red flags are up.”
Today, three former senior leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Demetre Daskalakis, Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, and National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director Dan Jernigan — all of whom resigned in protest after the baseless firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, participated in a press call hosted by Defend America Action to lay out how HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is endangering public health and making it impossible for career public servants to do their jobs and protect the American people.
“The rhetoric of radical transparency and gold standard science has served ideology, not the health of Americans. We need policies grounded in evidence and real transparency to restore trust and protect children’s health and America’s health security,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director. “What we expect to happen with Secretary Kennedy has come to fruition, and more will come if his leadership at HHS is not reconsidered. When Secretary Kennedy and his staff say gold standard science, they mean bypassing the scientific process. When they say radical transparency, they mean promoting propaganda. The red flags are up.”
“I loved my time at CDC and worked for six directors and under four administrations. But over time, it became very clear that our leaders were being reduced to rubber stamps, supporting policies not based in science, and I was concerned these were going to put American lives at risk. The Secretary censored CDC science, politicized its processes, and stripped leaders of independence, and I could not, in good conscience, remain under these conditions,” said Dr. Debra Houry, former Chief Medical Officer. “The CDC has thousands of hard working, dedicated people who are on the front lines to help people live safer, healthier lives. But under this secretary, the CDC is not poised to be successful, and given the recent changes to the website, what we’re seeing on social media, and the lack of support for science and data, we are greatly concerned about the future of the agency and public health in our country.”
“I’ve done lots of outbreak responses and complex infectious disease work, and worked with incredible people who are willing to do incredibly, often dangerous things in order to protect Americans and the globe from emerging infectious disease threats,” said Dr. Dan Jernigan, former National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director. “This administration has done a death by a thousand cuts. Those cuts have led to cuts in staff, cuts in resources, undercutting science, and because of that, we find ourselves without the people necessary to handle a big deployment and without the trust in CDC. If that’s the case, I don’t know what the Secretary is going to do for a major event because that readiness is not there now.”
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