Axios - By promoting debunked theories about vaccines and public health and accusing federal workers of being in cahoots with the drug industry, Kennedy and his allies have supercharged suspicion about mainstream science, Axios' Tina Reed reports.
- When four high-ranking CDC officials who had worked on mpox, Ebola, COVID data and the opioid crisis response resigned Wednesday, they cited Kennedy's political interference.
"This administration is unlike anything we've ever seen," says Richard Besser, a former acting director of the CDC and now CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
- "I fear now that Secretary Kennedy will now be even further emboldened to issue the same reckless directives that [Susan] Monarez rightly refused," he says.
State of play: The MAHA agenda has emphasized a focus on chronic disease, particularly in children. Along the way, Kennedy and his allies have promoted debunked theories about environmental toxins and connections between vaccines and autism.
- He's simultaneously presided over billions of dollars in research funding cuts that have halted ongoing studies and disrupted data collection. The upheaval has prompted some government scientists to take jobs with industry or abroad.
Beyond the CDC, funds for state and local health departments were frozen. Lots of critical infrastructure — lab testing capabilities, food safety and disease surveillance, and bioterrorism threat detection— have all been diminished. Keep reading.
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