Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New CDC Director Divests Stock, Resigns From Four Groups To Comply With Ethics Standards
The Washington Post: New CDC Chief Stepped Down From Four Groups To Comply With Ethics Rules
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield has resigned his positions at four groups, including a gene therapy biotechnology company and a conservative AIDS organization, to comply with government ethics rules, according to his financial disclosures. Redfield, a longtime HIV/AIDS researcher who started the job March 26, succeeded Brenda Fitzgerald, the former Georgia public health commissioner, who resigned Jan. 31 after serving only half a year because she was unable to divest from her financial holdings. She had also purchased tobacco stocks as CDC director. (Sun, 4/17)
The Wall Street Journal: New CDC Chief Resigned From Four Entities To Comply With Ethics Rules
In a Public Financial Disclosure Report, memorandum and letter reviewed by the Journal, Dr. Redfield, a veteran HIV/AIDS researcher, said he had resigned as a professor of medicine and from other posts at the University of Maryland. His compensation from the beginning of 2017 through March 2018 was $757,100 plus a $70,000 bonus. The CDC director’s compensation is $375,000. Dr. Redfield also resigned as consultant and chair of a clinical advisory committee for American Gene Technologies International Inc., a gene therapy biotech company; as a director of Children’s AIDS Fund International, an AIDS service organization with faith-based roots; and as a medical consultant for Guidepoint Global LLC, an advisory firm. He sold his stock in American Gene Technologies International and sold stock and forfeited options in Profectus Biosciences Inc., a vaccine development company. (McKay, 4/17)
In other administration news —
The Hill: HHS Chief Azar Postpones Appearance At Hearing
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is postponing a planned appearance before a Senate committee on Thursday as he recovers from an intestinal condition, an HHS official said Tuesday. The official said Azar, who was hospitalized overnight on Sunday before being released, has had his first bout of diverticulitis, an infection of pouches in the colon that can be painful. (Sullivan, 4/17)
