CDC deputy director resigns
Editor’s note: The video above is from a previous report.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — After two months on the job, Dr. Ralph Abraham has stepped down as the second-in-command at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Atlanta-based agency announced Monday.
Abraham resigned as principal deputy director “to address unforeseen family obligations,” the CDC said in a statement.
Abraham, a physician and former congressman, served as Louisiana’s first-ever surgeon general before mounting an unsuccessful 2019 bid for governor in the state.
He was named as the CDC’s principal deputy director, the No. 2 job at the agency, in November. He was sworn in on Dec. 15.
“CDC leadership thanks Dr. Abraham for his service and his contributions to the agency and to the nation,” the CDC said Monday.
Before he took the job, Abraham, a noted COVID-19 vaccine skeptic, criticized a COVID vaccination push by the CDC.
As Louisiana’s surgeon general, he ordered staff to stop engaging in media campaigns and community health fairs to encourage vaccinations.
Last month, Abraham told Atlanta News First he wanted to rebuild trust in the CDC after a year of turmoil. Mass firings, a deadly shooting last summer, and several changes to longstanding health policy have politicized the normally nonpartisan agency.
Abraham staunchly defended a recent decision made by a CDC advisory board to nix a longstanding universal recommendation of the hepatitis-B vaccine for newborns. Abraham said the decision was about giving patients more autonomy.
RELATED COVERAGE: New Deputy CDC Director: ‘Without public trust you cannot have public health’
Several former and current CDC employees expressed concern over Abraham’s hiring, citing reports that pharmacies owned by him prescribed more than 1 million opioids during a deadly crisis in Louisiana.
Amid recent claims by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that some vaccines and even Tylenol use by pregnant mothers might lead to autism in children, Abraham said he wanted to conduct more clinical trials to test the validity of that argument.
As deputy at the CDC, Abraham also said he wanted to fight the growing obesity epidemic among Americans, especially in children.
On Monday, Abraham said in a statement released by the CDC: “It has been an honor to serve alongside the dedicated public health professionals at the CDC and to support the agency’s critical mission.”
RELATED COVERAGE: Louisiana health official who ended vaccination promotion selected for No. 2 CDC job
The announcement of Abraham’s resignation came the week after the White House named Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as the new acting director for the CDC, replacing Jim O’Neill in that role.
Bhattacharya will be the third leader of the agency during President Donald Trump’s second term. The CDC has been without a permanent director since Kennedy removed Susan Monarez from the position in August.
RELATED COVERAGE:
New acting director named for CDC
CDC: Georgia among hardest-hit by the flu, doctors warn of a spike in cases among children
CDC panel recommends major change to hepatitis B vaccine schedule
CDC advisers delay vote on timing of hepatitis B vaccine for newborns
CDC website changed to contradict scientific conclusion that vaccines don’t cause autism
Furloughed CDC workers return to work after government shutdown ends
More than half of CDC workers fired amid government shutdown have been reinstated, report says
California hires ex-CDC leaders who were fired or quit under Trump
Fired CDC chief Susan Monarez warns senators that RFK Jr. is endangering public health
CDC gets new acting director as leadership turmoil leaves agency reeling
CDC director ousted after less than a month on the job, government says
Recent Posts
