Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services without explanation. Her attorneys said she had neither resigned nor been told she was fired and accused others of targeting her after she refused to rubber-stamp unscientific directives and to fire dedicated health experts. At least three senior CDC officials resigned concurrently: Deputy Director Dr. Debra Houry; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, head of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Houry cited budget cuts, reorganization, firings, vaccine misinformation, and limits on CDC communication.
"This is not about one official. It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science. The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within," they said.
"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," the attorneys wrote.
"Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people," the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a social media post Wednesday.
"I am committed to protecting the public's health, but the ongoing changes prevent me from continuing in my job as a leader of the agency," she wrote.
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