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Fired CDC Chief to Testify Against RFK 09/17 06:03
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director
Susan Monarez will tell senators that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
pressured her to endorse new vaccine recommendations before seeing scientific
evidence, according to a copy of the testimony she plans to give during a
Wednesday hearing.
According to a copy of the prepared remarks, obtained Tuesday by The
Associated Press, Monarez will tell senators that Kennedy gave her an
ultimatum: "Preapprove" new vaccine recommendations from a controversial
advisory CDC panel that Kennedy has stocked with some medical experts who doubt
vaccine safety or be fired. That panel is expected to vote on new vaccine
recommendations later this week.
Monarez, initially handpicked by Kennedy and nominated by President Donald
Trump, was fired just weeks into the job over disagreements on vaccine
policies. She is set to appear before the Senate's powerful health committee to
discuss her firing.
"Even under pressure, I could not replace evidence with ideology or
compromise my integrity," Monarez will say in her opening testimony to
senators. "Vaccine policy must be guided by credible data, not predetermined
outcomes."
She said she was "fired for holding the line on scientific integrity."
Monarez also notes that Kennedy directed her to fire a number of
high-ranking CDC officials without cause.
The Senate hearing will focus on the impact the turmoil at the nation's
leading public health agency, which is responsible for making vaccine
recommendations to the public, will have on children's health. It will also
undoubtedly serve as an opportunity for Monarez and former Chief Medical
Officer Debra Houry, who will also testify before the committee, to respond to
a number of Kennedy's contentious claims about their final days at the agency.
Kennedy has denied Monarez' accusations that he ordered "rubber-stamped"
vaccine recommendations.
He has described Monarez as admitting to him that she is "untrustworthy," a
claim Monarez has denied through her attorney. He did, however, acknowledge
during a testy Senate hearing earlier this month that he ordered Monarez to
fire several top officials at the CDC.
The Senate hearing is taking place just a day before the vaccine panel
starts its two-day session in Atlanta to discuss shots against COVID-19,
hepatitis B and chickenpox. It's unclear how the panel might vote on the
recommendations, though members have raised doubts about whether hepatitis B
shots administered to newborns are necessary and have suggested that COVID-19
recommendations should be more restricted.
The CDC director must endorse those recommendations before they become
official. Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill, now serving
as the CDC's acting director, will be responsible for that.
Monarez and Houry are expected to face tense questions from Republicans over
the CDC's vaccine recommendations and COVID-19 policies. Democrats, meanwhile,
are likely to seek more information on Kennedy's approach to vaccines.
The health committee's hearing will be overseen by Republican Sen. Bill
Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who cast a key vote for Kennedy's
confirmation. He has expressed concern about "serious allegations" at the CDC
and has called for oversight, without blaming Kennedy.
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