Viewpoints: We Are Losing Our Freedom To Choose Vaccination; The CDC Is Becoming Unrecognizable
Opinion writers tackle vaccines, the CDC, and the U.S. drug supply.
Stat:
Americans Are Losing The Right To Choose Vaccines
The war on vaccines and public health reached new heights on Aug. 27, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director was ousted from her position after refusing to endorse unfounded, unscientific Covid-19 vaccine recommendations promoted by the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. (Jane R. Zucker, Noel T. Brewer and Yvonne A. Maldonado on behalf of 17 former members of ACIP, 9/4)
Stat:
CDC’s Injury Center Is A Shadow Of Its Former Self
On Aug. 8, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff in Atlanta came under attack. A gunman fired hundreds of rounds at CDC’s campus, shattering 150 windows. While public health experts crouched under their desks and their expelled colleagues watched the TV news in despair, many felt it to be the obvious result of the slander, disinformation campaigns, and conspiracy theories wielded against them for months by President Trump, amplified by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Melissa Fay Greene, 9/3)
The Washington Post:
I Resigned From The CDC. Here Are Three Questions For RFK Jr.
In my role as the CDC’s chief medical officer as well as the agency’s lead last winter for the transition to the Trump administration, I have had a firsthand view of how public health policy has been affected by the arrival of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services. (Debra Houry, 9/3)
The Boston Globe:
Kennedy Is Purging The CDC. Here's How To Respond.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is converting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from an evidence-based beacon to an unreliable ideological rubber stamp of the Trump administration. Purging CDC director Susan Monarez and presiding over the resignation of her deputies enables Kennedy to promote his anti-vaccine agenda through the CDC. He promised he would not undermine vaccines. He lied. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Abe G. Baker-Butler and Merjan L. Ozisik, 9/4)
The New York Times:
‘The Biggest Loser’ And America’s Addiction To Extreme Wellness
In an episode of the “Conspirituality” podcast, which analyzes wellness, fitness and New Age trends, the hosts, Derek Beres and Julian Marc Walker, make explicit parallels between the performative failure of “The Biggest Loser” and the antics of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again followers. (Jessica Grose, 9/3)
Chicago Tribune:
How Donald Trump Can Safeguard Our Drug Supply
In the event of a conflict, or even just trade tensions, China could restrict drug exports — as it was willing to do for rare earth minerals — and threaten hundreds of thousands of American patients. The rare earth mineral tensions leave no doubt that China is perfectly willing to go after our most vulnerable targets. Leaving our citizens vulnerable to such a threat to our medicine cabinet is unacceptable. But there is no such thing as a free lunch, so reducing the risk of this threat may be costly. (Tomas J. Philipson, 9/4)
