GOOD NEWS...CDC director Gerberding resigns at Obama’s request_Atlanta Constitution

January 11, 2009

hoorayOn Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 3:48 AM, Ingrid Blank <enb1@...> wrote:

GOOD NEWS

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION

Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability

http://www.ahrp.org and http://ahrp.blogspot.com

FYI

Dr. Gerberding resigns from her directorship of the Centers for Disease

Control, after being asked by the Obama team to resign.

" Last year, congressional investigators concluded the CDC failed " in

almost every respect " to protect Hurricane Katrina's victims from dangerous

formaldehyde fumes in government-provided trailers. And Gerberding was accused

of playing politics by refusing to reappoint the director of the agency's

worker safety division — a man widely respected by business leaders, labor

unions and lawmakers. "

In November, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported: " During

Gerberding's six years at the CDC, critics lambasted her for sacrificing

science for politics —- for carrying the Bush agenda on global warming and

other issues into the world of scientific research. "

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/23/cdc.html?cxntlid=inform_artr

Indeed, Dr. Gerberding was much criticized for delivering censored testimony to

Congress:

" in 2007 when she delivered testimony to Congress about the health effects

of climate change that had been censored by the White House. "

Her defenders counter that she expanded the mission of the agency to include

bioterrorism research, combating AIDS globally and responding to national health

threats.

However, two controversial issues not mentioned in the AJC articles involve a

clash between children's safety and corporate profits: Dr. Gerberding lent

the government seal of approval to vaccine policies that greatly enrich vaccine

manufacturers while putting vulnerable children at risk:

1. Dr. Gerberding's denial in the face of evidence that some cases of

autism in children were linked to vaccines laced with mercury;

http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2008/03/vaccine-autism-story-trust-your.html

2. CDC's promotion of Merck's controversial human papilomavirus (HPV)

vaccine, Gardasil for girls between the ages of 9 and 26.

http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2007/10/8-more-deaths-linked-to-gardasil-hpv.html

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

veracare@...

212-595-8974

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2009/01/09/cdc_gerberding.html

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

CDC director Gerberding resigns at Obama's request

By ALISON YOUNG

Friday, January 09, 2009

CDC Director Gerberding's controversial tenure will end Jan. 20 —

after Barack Obama is sworn in as president, employees of the Atlanta-based

agency were informed in an email sent late Friday evening.

Dr. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, will step down Jan. 20.

Until a new director is named, the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention's chief operating officer, Bill Gimson, will be acting director,

the email said.

Gerberding and Gimson were returning from Africa on Friday night and were

unavailable for comment, according to a brief statement released by the agency.

" As part of the transition process, the Administration requested resignation

letters from a number of senior-level officials, including Dr. Gerberding.

This week, the Administration accepted Dr. Gerberding's resignation, effective

January 20. As Dr. Gerberding noted in a November e-mail to CDC leadership, she

has always expected that she would be leaving after the administration

changes, " the written statement said..

Gerberding was the first woman to lead the agency, which has about 9,000

government employees and 5,000 contract workers.

Gerberding's six years leading one of the nation's most trusted

institutions were marked by numerous controversies, from allegations that she

allowed politics to interfere with science to concerns that her strategic

decisions incapacitated the agency's ability to respond in a public health

crisis.

Through it all, Gerberding maintained that the changes she initiated at the

agency had made it stronger and better able to do its job in a post-9/11 world.

During her tenure she has expressed pride in the agency's response to

outbreaks of SARS and monkeypox, its groundbreaking research into avian

influenza and other diseases. In the past year, she increasingly spoke out on

topics related to health care reform â€ " a key topic in the presidential

election â€ " and the importance of preventing disease before it needs

treatment.

" It will take more than reform of our health-care delivery system to achieve

this, because health doesn't only happen in the doctor's office or the

hospital bed. Health is created in our homes, our schools, our work sites and in

communities across America, " she wrote in a New Years Eve op-ed article in The

Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Dr. s , executive director of the American Public Health

Association, said Gerberding took the helm of the agency at a time of tremendous

change following the anthrax attacks and helped transform it into its new role

as a first-responder to bioterrorism.

Tom Skinner, a spokesman for Gerberding, said she considered her time at CDC

" working side by side with the greatest workforce in the world the greatest

privilege. It's something she always spoke about passionately. "

Yet , for much of her tenure, many CDC employees lacked confidence in her

vision for the agency. Just 48 percent of CDC staff said they had a high level

of respect for the agency's senior leaders, according to results released last

year of a federal survey of government employees.

Last year, congressional investigators concluded the CDC failed " in almost

every respect " to protect Hurricane Katrina's victims from dangerous

formaldehyde fumes in government-provided trailers. And Gerberding was accused

of playing politics by refusing to reappoint the director of the agency's

worker safety division — a man widely respected by business leaders, labor

unions and lawmakers.

Gerberding drew fire from Democratic lawmakers in 2007 when she delivered

testimony to Congress about the health effects of climate change that had been

censored by the White House.

In 2003 Gerberding launched a massive reorganization of the CDC that many

employees say plunged the nation's 9-1-1 system for public health into turmoil

and caused an exodus of key scientific staff.

In December 2005 five former CDC directors sent Gerberding a highly unusual

joint letter warning that the agency was in trouble in the wake of her

reorganization. They were alarmed by the departures of critical staff.

Dr. Koplan, who preceded Gerberding as CDC director and was one of the

authors of the letter, served on the Obama transition team for the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services. HHS is the parent agency of the CDC.

Koplan, a vice president at Emory University, was not immediately available for

comment.

More on ajc.com

* CDC director faces ouster under new administration (11/23/2008)

* New administration could mean new CDC chief (11/22/2008)

* CDC director is out, government e-mail says (01/09/2009)

* Got the flu? CDC says Tamiflu may not help much (12/19/2008)

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such

material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of

human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues,

etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such

copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US

Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

_______________________________________________

Infomail1 mailing list

to unsubscribe send a message to Infomail1-leave@...

January 11, 2009

hoorayOn Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 3:48 AM, Ingrid Blank <enb1@...> wrote:

GOOD NEWS

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION

Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability

http://www.ahrp.org and http://ahrp.blogspot.com

FYI

Dr. Gerberding resigns from her directorship of the Centers for Disease

Control, after being asked by the Obama team to resign.

" Last year, congressional investigators concluded the CDC failed " in

almost every respect " to protect Hurricane Katrina's victims from dangerous

formaldehyde fumes in government-provided trailers. And Gerberding was accused

of playing politics by refusing to reappoint the director of the agency's

worker safety division — a man widely respected by business leaders, labor

unions and lawmakers. "

In November, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported: " During

Gerberding's six years at the CDC, critics lambasted her for sacrificing

science for politics —- for carrying the Bush agenda on global warming and

other issues into the world of scientific research. "

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/23/cdc.html?cxntlid=inform_artr

Indeed, Dr. Gerberding was much criticized for delivering censored testimony to

Congress:

" in 2007 when she delivered testimony to Congress about the health effects

of climate change that had been censored by the White House. "

Her defenders counter that she expanded the mission of the agency to include

bioterrorism research, combating AIDS globally and responding to national health

threats.

However, two controversial issues not mentioned in the AJC articles involve a

clash between children's safety and corporate profits: Dr. Gerberding lent

the government seal of approval to vaccine policies that greatly enrich vaccine

manufacturers while putting vulnerable children at risk:

1. Dr. Gerberding's denial in the face of evidence that some cases of

autism in children were linked to vaccines laced with mercury;

http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2008/03/vaccine-autism-story-trust-your.html

2. CDC's promotion of Merck's controversial human papilomavirus (HPV)

vaccine, Gardasil for girls between the ages of 9 and 26.

http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2007/10/8-more-deaths-linked-to-gardasil-hpv.html

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

veracare@...

212-595-8974

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2009/01/09/cdc_gerberding.html

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

CDC director Gerberding resigns at Obama's request

By ALISON YOUNG

Friday, January 09, 2009

CDC Director Gerberding's controversial tenure will end Jan. 20 —

after Barack Obama is sworn in as president, employees of the Atlanta-based

agency were informed in an email sent late Friday evening.

Dr. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, will step down Jan. 20.

Until a new director is named, the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention's chief operating officer, Bill Gimson, will be acting director,

the email said.

Gerberding and Gimson were returning from Africa on Friday night and were

unavailable for comment, according to a brief statement released by the agency.

" As part of the transition process, the Administration requested resignation

letters from a number of senior-level officials, including Dr. Gerberding.

This week, the Administration accepted Dr. Gerberding's resignation, effective

January 20. As Dr. Gerberding noted in a November e-mail to CDC leadership, she

has always expected that she would be leaving after the administration

changes, " the written statement said..

Gerberding was the first woman to lead the agency, which has about 9,000

government employees and 5,000 contract workers.

Gerberding's six years leading one of the nation's most trusted

institutions were marked by numerous controversies, from allegations that she

allowed politics to interfere with science to concerns that her strategic

decisions incapacitated the agency's ability to respond in a public health

crisis.

Through it all, Gerberding maintained that the changes she initiated at the

agency had made it stronger and better able to do its job in a post-9/11 world.

During her tenure she has expressed pride in the agency's response to

outbreaks of SARS and monkeypox, its groundbreaking research into avian

influenza and other diseases. In the past year, she increasingly spoke out on

topics related to health care reform â€ " a key topic in the presidential

election â€ " and the importance of preventing disease before it needs

treatment.

" It will take more than reform of our health-care delivery system to achieve

this, because health doesn't only happen in the doctor's office or the

hospital bed. Health is created in our homes, our schools, our work sites and in

communities across America, " she wrote in a New Years Eve op-ed article in The

Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Dr. s , executive director of the American Public Health

Association, said Gerberding took the helm of the agency at a time of tremendous

change following the anthrax attacks and helped transform it into its new role

as a first-responder to bioterrorism.

Tom Skinner, a spokesman for Gerberding, said she considered her time at CDC

" working side by side with the greatest workforce in the world the greatest

privilege. It's something she always spoke about passionately. "

Yet , for much of her tenure, many CDC employees lacked confidence in her

vision for the agency. Just 48 percent of CDC staff said they had a high level

of respect for the agency's senior leaders, according to results released last

year of a federal survey of government employees.

Last year, congressional investigators concluded the CDC failed " in almost

every respect " to protect Hurricane Katrina's victims from dangerous

formaldehyde fumes in government-provided trailers. And Gerberding was accused

of playing politics by refusing to reappoint the director of the agency's

worker safety division — a man widely respected by business leaders, labor

unions and lawmakers.

Gerberding drew fire from Democratic lawmakers in 2007 when she delivered

testimony to Congress about the health effects of climate change that had been

censored by the White House.

In 2003 Gerberding launched a massive reorganization of the CDC that many

employees say plunged the nation's 9-1-1 system for public health into turmoil

and caused an exodus of key scientific staff.

In December 2005 five former CDC directors sent Gerberding a highly unusual

joint letter warning that the agency was in trouble in the wake of her

reorganization. They were alarmed by the departures of critical staff.

Dr. Koplan, who preceded Gerberding as CDC director and was one of the

authors of the letter, served on the Obama transition team for the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services. HHS is the parent agency of the CDC.

Koplan, a vice president at Emory University, was not immediately available for

comment.

More on ajc.com

* CDC director faces ouster under new administration (11/23/2008)

* New administration could mean new CDC chief (11/22/2008)

* CDC director is out, government e-mail says (01/09/2009)

* Got the flu? CDC says Tamiflu may not help much (12/19/2008)

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such

material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of

human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues,

etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such

copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US

Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

_______________________________________________

Infomail1 mailing list

to unsubscribe send a message to Infomail1-leave@...

January 11, 2009

GOOD NEWS

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability http://www.ahrp.org and http://ahrp.blogspot.com FYI

Dr. Gerberding resigns from her directorship of the Centers for Disease

Control, after being asked by the Obama team to resign.

"Last year, congressional investigators concluded the CDC failed "in

almost every respect" to protect Hurricane Katrina's victims from dangerous

formaldehyde fumes in government-provided trailers. And Gerberding was accused

of playing politics by refusing to reappoint the director of the agency's

worker safety division — a man widely respected by business leaders, labor

unions and lawmakers."

In November, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported: "During

Gerberding's six years at the CDC, critics lambasted her for sacrificing

science for politics —- for carrying the Bush agenda on global warming and

other issues into the world of scientific research." http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/23/cdc.html?cxntlid=inform_artr

Indeed, Dr. Gerberding was much criticized for delivering censored testimony to

Congress: "in 2007 when she delivered testimony to Congress about the health effects

of climate change that had been censored by the White House."

Her defenders counter that she expanded the mission of the agency to include

bioterrorism research, combating AIDS globally and responding to national health

threats. However, two controversial issues not mentioned in the AJC articles involve a

clash between children's safety and corporate profits: Dr. Gerberding lent

the government seal of approval to vaccine policies that greatly enrich vaccine

manufacturers while putting vulnerable children at risk:

1. Dr. Gerberding's denial in the face of evidence that some cases of

autism in children were linked to vaccines laced with mercury;

http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2008/03/vaccine-autism-story-trust-your.html

2. CDC's promotion of Merck's controversial human papilomavirus (HPV)

vaccine, Gardasil for girls between the ages of 9 and 26.

http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2007/10/8-more-deaths-linked-to-gardasil-hpv.html

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

veracare@...

212-595-8974

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2009/01/09/cdc_gerberding.html

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

CDC director Gerberding resigns at Obama's request

By ALISON YOUNG

Friday, January 09, 2009

CDC Director Gerberding's controversial tenure will end Jan. 20 —

after Barack Obama is sworn in as president, employees of the Atlanta-based

agency were informed in an email sent late Friday evening.

Dr. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, will step down Jan. 20.

Until a new director is named, the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention's chief operating officer, Bill Gimson, will be acting director,

the email said.

Gerberding and Gimson were returning from Africa on Friday night and were

unavailable for comment, according to a brief statement released by the agency.

"As part of the transition process, the Administration requested resignation

letters from a number of senior-level officials, including Dr. Gerberding.

This week, the Administration accepted Dr. Gerberding's resignation, effective

January 20. As Dr. Gerberding noted in a November e-mail to CDC leadership, she

has always expected that she would be leaving after the administration

changes," the written statement said..

Gerberding was the first woman to lead the agency, which has about 9,000

government employees and 5,000 contract workers.

Gerberding's six years leading one of the nation's most trusted

institutions were marked by numerous controversies, from allegations that she

allowed politics to interfere with science to concerns that her strategic

decisions incapacitated the agency's ability to respond in a public health

crisis.

Through it all, Gerberding maintained that the changes she initiated at the

agency had made it stronger and better able to do its job in a post-9/11 world.

During her tenure she has expressed pride in the agency's response to

outbreaks of SARS and monkeypox, its groundbreaking research into avian

influenza and other diseases. In the past year, she increasingly spoke out on

topics related to health care reform â€" a key topic in the presidential

election â€" and the importance of preventing disease before it needs

treatment.

"It will take more than reform of our health-care delivery system to achieve

this, because health doesn't only happen in the doctor's office or the

hospital bed. Health is created in our homes, our schools, our work sites and in

communities across America," she wrote in a New Years Eve op-ed article in The

Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Dr. s , executive director of the American Public Health

Association, said Gerberding took the helm of the agency at a time of tremendous

change following the anthrax attacks and helped transform it into its new role

as a first-responder to bioterrorism.

Tom Skinner, a spokesman for Gerberding, said she considered her time at CDC

"working side by side with the greatest workforce in the world the greatest

privilege. It's something she always spoke about passionately."

Yet , for much of her tenure, many CDC employees lacked confidence in her

vision for the agency. Just 48 percent of CDC staff said they had a high level

of respect for the agency's senior leaders, according to results released last

year of a federal survey of government employees.

Last year, congressional investigators concluded the CDC failed "in almost

every respect" to protect Hurricane Katrina's victims from dangerous

formaldehyde fumes in government-provided trailers. And Gerberding was accused

of playing politics by refusing to reappoint the director of the agency's

worker safety division — a man widely respected by business leaders, labor

unions and lawmakers.

Gerberding drew fire from Democratic lawmakers in 2007 when she delivered

testimony to Congress about the health effects of climate change that had been

censored by the White House.

In 2003 Gerberding launched a massive reorganization of the CDC that many

employees say plunged the nation's 9-1-1 system for public health into turmoil

and caused an exodus of key scientific staff.

In December 2005 five former CDC directors sent Gerberding a highly unusual

joint letter warning that the agency was in trouble in the wake of her

reorganization. They were alarmed by the departures of critical staff.

Dr. Koplan, who preceded Gerberding as CDC director and was one of the

authors of the letter, served on the Obama transition team for the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services. HHS is the parent agency of the CDC.

Koplan, a vice president at Emory University, was not immediately available for

comment.

More on ajc.com

* CDC director faces ouster under new administration (11/23/2008)

* New administration could mean new CDC chief (11/22/2008)

* CDC director is out, government e-mail says (01/09/2009)

* Got the flu? CDC says Tamiflu may not help much (12/19/2008)

has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such

material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of

human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues,

etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such

copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US

Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit. _______________________________________________

Infomail1 mailing list

to unsubscribe send a message to Infomail1-leave@...

January 11, 2009