Her time in office came to an end after disagreements with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which shows that there are still problems with the agency’s vaccine advice and independence, as per a report by The Wall Street Journal.
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What happened to Susan Monarez at the CDC?
The White House said on Wednesday that Susan Monarez was no longer the CDC Director. “Since Susan Monarez refused to resign, despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai, as per a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Officials said she wouldn’t quit, even though she had said she would before. Her lawyers say that only the president can fire her, which makes the action illegal.
The fight was mostly about vaccines, and Monarez stood up to pressure to change CDC recommendations. Her legal team says that her refusal to “rubber-stamp” orders led to her firing.
“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted,” her lawyers said in an earlier statement.
Who is Susan Monarez?
Susan Monarez has a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and did postdoctoral research at Stanford University. She was the deputy director of Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a federal agency that works to speed up healthcare innovation, before joining the CDC, as per a report by The Wall Street Journal.
She was the first CDC director in more than 70 years to not have a medical degree, which caused some concern during her Senate confirmation. In July, she was confirmed by a very close vote of 51 to 47, with strict party lines.
According to a senior Trump administration official, Susan Monarez, who had been in charge of the agency for less than a month, had disagreements with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, and his staff. President Trump nominated her to head the CDC in March., as per a report by The Wall Street Journal.
What made more people quit?
Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer, and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, both quit right after Monarez was fired, according to emails viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Both said they were frustrated with the politicization of science and warned that false information and interference are getting in the way of the agency’s mission.
Dr. Houry stressed in her resignation letter that vaccines save lives and that the spread of false information has already cost lives, as per a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said he could no longer serve because of the “weaponization of public health.”
What has happened to the CDC in the last few weeks?
Monarez’s time in office was short and full of problems. A week after she was confirmed, a gunman who was against Covid-19 vaccines attacked the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters, killing a police officer and damaging several buildings.
The event hurt morale at an agency that was already having a hard time with layoffs and a rise in measles cases, which were the highest in 30 years, as per a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Many workers had to work from home because of the shooting. Hundreds of current and former CDC employees wrote to Congress to say that ongoing attacks and false information were hurting public trust and putting the nation’s health security at risk.
What does this mean for the health of people in the U.S.?
People are worried that the CDC won’t be able to handle current and future crises well because there is no clear leader. Lawmakers are warning about the long-term effects of making science political, especially since top officials are leaving and morale is low.
In a letter to Kennedy and members of Congress last week, hundreds of current and former staff members of the CDC and other federal health agencies said the attack occurred as public health institutions are increasingly viewed with suspicion by the public and federal leaders politicize and promote health misinformation.
They stated that “When the federal workforce is not safe, America is not safe,” adding “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is complicit in dismantling America’s public health infrastructure and endangering the nation’s health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information, as per a report.
FAQs
What did Susan Monarez do to get fired?
She was let go after having disagreements with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about vaccine advice.
Who else quit the CDC?
Dr. Debra Houry and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis were among the high-ranking officials who left after she was fired.
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