Fired US health agency chief testifies about pressure to ‘replace evidence with ideology’

WASHINGTON – The former chief of the US disease prevention agency told senators on Sept 17 that she was fired for refusing to approve changes to childhood vaccine schedules not backed by scientific evidence, as the Trump administration moves to dismantle longstanding health policy.

The high-profile testimony follows

the abrupt ouster

in August of Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) head Susan Monarez, who told lawmakers on the Senate Health Committee that US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr had also demanded that she fire career scientists from the agency without cause.

“Even under pressure, I could not replace evidence with ideology, or compromise my integrity,” she told the panel.

“Vaccine policy must be guided by credible data, not predetermined outcomes.”

The testimony comes one day before a highly anticipated meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices – a body Mr Kennedy has dramatically revamped, firing all of its members and replacing them with figures whose views mirror his own vaccine scepticism.

Dr Monarez said Mr Kennedy

had demanded that she agree

to rubber-stamp every recommendation that the committee makes to the CDC.

She was fired less than a month after senators had voted to confirm her with unanimous support from Republican lawmakers.

Her testimony contradicts what Mr Kennedy told the Senate Finance Committee. He insisted he had requested only that she keep an open mind, and said she ultimately had not been “trustworthy”.

Under questioning from Republican Senator Bill Cassidy – a physician who continues to vouch for the safety of vaccines, and who leads the Senate Health Committee – Dr Monarez said she told Mr Kennedy she “would be open” to childhood vaccine schedule shifts if there was solid scientific data to back those changes up.

But Mr Kennedy “did not have any data or science to point to”, she said.

“To be clear, he said there was not science or data” but he “still expected you to change this?” Mr Cassidy asked.

“Correct,” Dr Monarez responded.

Her ouster was followed by the departure of several senior CDC officials from the health agency.

Associate Professor Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer, also testified on Sept 17, saying that Mr Kennedy “censored CDC science, politicised its processes and stripped leaders of independence”.

“I could not in good conscience remain under those conditions.”

Asked by Republican Susan Collins what the public health implications might be if major CDC decisions come from politicised ideology rather than hard science, Dr Monarez said it could move the US into “a very dangerous place in public health”.

“These are very important, highly technical discussions that have life-saving implications for our children and others who need vaccines.”

Vaccines are safe and effective, according to overwhelming consensus in the scientific community, but critics say the Trump administration has gone out of its way to sow doubt about them. AFP