Tag: Trump CDC Director

U.S. on pace to pass 100,000 Covid-19 deaths by June 1, CDC director says

This marks the first time Robert Redfield has explicitly addressed the grim milestone.

The United States is heading toward more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths by June 1, with leading mortality forecasts still trending upward, CDC Director Robert Redfield tweeted on Friday.

His assessment cited 12 different models tracked by his agency and marked the first time Redfield has explicitly addressed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths, even as the Trump administration turns its strategy toward reopening the economy. The CDC director has been mostly sidelined in the government’s public-facing response to the Covid-19 pandemic

Redfield shared weekly forecast data the agency culls from models run by 12 top institutions including Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They show the cumulative reported coronavirus deaths since February and made projections for the next four weeks in the United States. Continue reading.

CDC director resigns because of conflicts over financial interests

The following article by Lena H. Sun was posted on the Washington Post website January 31, 2018:

Brenda Fitzgerald, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since the summer, resigned her position on Wednesday. Credit:
Melissa Golden for The Washington Post

This post has been updated.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resigned her position on Wednesday after only half a year because of “complex financial interests” that repeatedly forced her to recuse herself from the agency’s activities and kept her from testifying before lawmakers on public health issues.

According to a statement from the Health and Human Services department, Secretary Alex Azar, who was sworn in just two days ago, accepted Brenda Fitzgerald’s resignation because she could not divest from those interests “in a definitive time period.” Azar succeeded former Georgia congressman Tom Price, who was forced out in the fall following an uproar over his use of costly private charter aircraft for official travel. Continue reading “CDC director resigns because of conflicts over financial interests”

New CDC head faces questions about financial conflicts of interest

The following article by Lena H. Sun and Alice Crites was posted on the Washington Post website December 11, 2017:

Brenda Fitzgerald, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has pledged to avoid government business that might affect her financial interests. (Melissa Golden for The Washington Post)

ATLANTA — After five months in office, President Trump’s new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been unable to divest financial holdings that pose potential conflicts of interest, hindering her ability to fully perform her job.

Brenda Fitzgerald, 71, who served as the Georgia public health commissioner until her appointment to the CDC post in July, said she has divested from many stock holdings. But she and her husband are legally obligated to maintain other investments in cancer detection and health information technology, according to her ethics agreement, requiring Fitzgerald to pledge to avoid government business that might affect those interests. Fitzgerald provided The Post with a copy of her agreement. Continue reading “New CDC head faces questions about financial conflicts of interest”