Jeremy Faust, MD, 8/12/25
Thanks, as always, to my CDC colleagues for speaking out, especially during this time.
RFK Jr. visits CDC after an attack many staffers felt his rhetoric provoked.
"HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the CDC yesterday, three days after a gunman fired at least 180 bullets at the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta.
"One CDC employee told Inside Medicine that she was “angry” about the visit. “This man has been verbally attacking and sowing seeds of distrust against CDC and CDC employees for two decades,” she said.
"Kennedy has long attacked the CDC verbally, linking it to “fascism,” and referring to the agency as a “cesspool of corruption.”
"None of this made him the most welcome of visitors to the agency’s headquarters yesterday. Even the timing of the optics were not a hit. “He tweeted about his fishing vacation in Alaska on Friday and Saturday before he made any statement about the attack, and then showed up today with a bunch of bodyguards, and on a day most staff were teleworking, to tour an active crime scene,” she added.
"That was not an isolated sentiment. Another employee hadn’t even realized that Kennedy had visited when I reached out for comment. “Is that a joke? There was no one there,” another CDC employee said. “The building is riddled with bullet holes and everyone is working from home.”
"Another CDC source shared that he hoped that Kennedy's visit might cause him to “reflect” on some of his rhetoric.
"Outside the agency, public health experts saw Friday’s attack as an unsurprising but terrible escalation that requires a change in rhetoric from both Kennedy and his allies. In a New York Times essay, Dr. Céline Gounder wrote about the attack, saying “The symbolism could not be clearer: Scientists, doctors, public health officials, and law enforcement officials — people whose life’s work is to protect the nation — have targets on their backs. The CDC union has asked federal officials to condemn vaccine misinformation, since it is putting lives at risk.”
New CDC Director signs off on (the normal) fall vaccine recommendations. One test passed. A larger one awaits.
"Last week, I wrote that the first big test for Dr. Susan Monarez would be if she would adopt the two “normal” recommendations made by Secretary Kennedy’s newly-installed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC. After ACIP met in June, Kennedy adopted one whacky (i.e. unscientific) recommendation regarding the use of thimerosal in influenza vaccines, but not a set of more typical recommendations for influenza and RSV shots for the fall season.
"Good news: Dr. Monarez did in fact sign off on the fall flu and RSV recommendations last week. Whew.
"The next big test will be to see what she does when faced with unscientific recommendations that ACIP may make in the future. Would she have signed off on the thimerosal vote? We’ll never know.
"But a showdown over vaccine science could be brewing. Last month, a major study out of Denmark, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found no associations between aluminum in vaccines and any increased risks for “autoimmune, atopic or allergic, or neurodevelopmental disorders” (that includes autism).
"Kennedy could have said nothing. But that is not who he is. So, naturally, Secretary Kennedy—the expert that he is, lolz—chimed in on X/Twitter, attacking the study. (This, on its face, is an astonishing escalation of misinformation coming from our government.) Kennedy started by saying the paper was published by a “pharma funded” medical journal. Talk about desperate. Since the paper was not itself pharma funded, but rather, conducted by a team of government scientists in Denmark, Kennedy had no choice but to go for guilt by association. Kennedy’s call for the paper to be retracted (see above under “astonishing escalation”) was rejected by the journal.
"It will be fascinating to see if Director Monarez stands up against future nonsense that ACIP puts on her desk, including blaming aluminum (or other stuff) for all manner of pediatric medical conditions. So, this may be the next big test for her. In fact, because any disagreements on vaccines could put her at odds with Secretary Kennedy, it might be “the biggie.”
Two other public health/science stories I’m also following.
"Two quick stories worth tracking:
The Government Accountability Office found that the Trump administration’s NIH grant cuts—done summarily and without adequate notice or explanation—violated federal law. The President can’t just halt funding that Congress previously approved. Per GAO.gov, the agency is “often called the ‘congressional watchdog,’…an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress.”. For now, that is. Meanwhile, Congress seems poised to reject the Trump administration’s proposal for deeps cuts in NIH grant funding in the next appropriations bill. If the proposed cuts are cut, it’ll be an important victory for science. But that won’t be the end of it. Last week President Trump issued an executive order saying that grants must reflect his priorities. That leaves open the question of whether actual science will routinely continue in the United States.
Dr. Vinay Prasad was reinstated to his role running the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, weeks after being ousted, in part due to attacks from right-wing activists. (Officials deny this characterization.) When he left the FDA, Prasad said he had done so to spend more time with his family. His return again raises the question of the fate of Covid-19 vaccines (which I’ll now chime in on, given that it’s relevant again), as well as therapies for rare diseases where high-quality clinical trials are often not possible. Pharmaceutical companies may be spooked by this news. When Replimune’s drug for melanoma was rejected last month, its stock plummeted overnight. The price rose when Prasad left. Not surprisingly, the stock dropped a bunch over the weekend. Replimune’s value has dropped 60% since the decision last month.
"That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and supporting science, facts, and the actual American way!'
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