Former CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez Testifies at Senate Hearing
Former CDC chief Susan Monarez testified that Health Secretary demanded she fire career officials and rubber-stamp recommendations before critical vaccine panel meeting
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Overview
- Monarez refused Kennedy's demands to fire scientific experts and approve vaccine recommendations without reviewing evidence, leading to her August dismissal from the agency.
- The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets this week to potentially delay hepatitis B shots for children until age 4, abandoning decades-old policy.
- Before 1991, 20,000 babies annually contracted hepatitis B; vaccination at birth reduced that number to fewer than 20 cases per year nationwide.
- Babies infected with hepatitis B have a 90% chance of developing chronic infection, leading to lifelong liver damage, cirrhosis, and cancer risks.
- Kennedy allegedly told Monarez that CDC employees were 'killing children' and accused the agency of being controlled by pharmaceutical industry interests.
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Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the story as a critical threat to the CDC's scientific integrity and public health. They emphasize how political interference, particularly from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is undermining evidence-based decision-making, eroding public trust in vaccines, and potentially leading to negative health outcomes by altering established processes.
"The change could put Kennedy — who has previously been critical of the CDC and its past policy decision — under more scrutiny."
NBC News"The fallout, critics say, is likely to be measured not in headlines, but in children's lives."
CBS News"Kennedy is personally steering federal policies to align with his unfounded views, refusing to work with CDC scientists or review any data."
ARS Technica"The anti-vaccine sentiment in the country, led by Kennedy, has been making everyone less safe in a multitude of ways."
Gizmodo"The two former officials portrayed Kennedy as someone who put politics ahead of science, was uninterested in data and science, and rarely communicated with the agency's experts and leaders."
BBC News"Monarez rejected Secretary Kennedy claims – outlined in a Wall Street Journal op-ed and reiterated during a congressional – that she was fired because she was not a "trustworthy person.""
NPR"Monarez said there was a meeting in which she says Kennedy told her to preemptively accept recommendations from a CDC vaccine advisory panel and to fire career officials overseeing vaccine policy."
ABC News"The senate hearing will focus on the impact the turmoil at the nation’s leading public health agency, which is responsible for making vaccine recommendations to the public, will have on children’s health."
Associated Press"The overhaul of the CDC vaccine group by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has already led to pushback from major medical groups and states."
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FAQ
Dr. Susan Monarez was ousted after less than a month for refusing to approve vaccine recommendations without scientific evidence, which conflicted with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s agenda.
Kennedy planned changes to the childhood vaccine schedule set for September, having already decided on these changes prior to analysis by the CDC's independent advisers, and claimed President Trump was briefed daily on this topic.
West Coast states, including California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, have issued unified, science-based vaccine recommendations ahead of the winter virus season, with California passing a law to reject corrupted federal guidelines and rely on independent medical organizations instead.
Kennedy's actions include firing CDC career officials, replacing the ACIP board with vaccine skeptics, attempting to investigate disproven links between vaccines and autism, and altering NIH research priorities by canceling studies on mRNA vaccines and vaccine hesitancy, all of which have drawn criticism from public health officials.
Public health officials like Senator Bernie Sanders and Dr. Debra Houry expressed serious concerns about Kennedy's replacement of the ACIP board with vaccine skeptics, highlighting the impact on public trust and vaccine safety oversight.
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