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The CDC’s troubling new second in command, briefly explained
The former Louisiana surgeon general has shared debunked theories about vaccines and autism.
Cameron Peters is a staff editor at Vox.
Welcome to The Logoff: The CDC has a new second in command — with a long, concerning record of anti-vaccine rhetoric and actions.
Who’s the new guy? Dr. Ralph Abraham, who was previously a member of Congress and the surgeon general of Louisiana, is the CDC’s new principal deputy director. He seemingly started the job over the weekend, but there has been no official announcement of his appointment to a senior public health role; we only know about it thanks to reporting (the Substack Inside Medicine had it first).
What do we know about Abraham’s beliefs? Abraham has repeatedly shared public health misinformation, including backing ineffective Covid-19 treatments like ivermectin, and he appears to align closely with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccines.
As Louisiana surgeon general, Abraham ended a campaign to promote childhood vaccinations and failed to alert Louisianans about whooping cough deaths in a timely manner.
What’s the context? Federal public health agencies like the CDC are at the center of an ongoing power struggle over vaccines, with Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine advocate, seemingly clashing with more restrained officials like FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Abraham’s record — including promoting debunked claims about vaccines and autism and the unsubstantiated Tylenol-autism linkage promoted by the White House — suggests he will be a Kennedy ally.
Why does this matter? Abraham’s arrival at the CDC is the latest in a series of concerning moves by Kennedy, who previously removed every member of a CDC advisory panel on vaccines and crippled the agency’s senior leadership by removing its newly confirmed director and sparking a wave of resignations. The result has been a steady erosion of confidence in America’s public health agencies and more confusion and misinformation about vaccines.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
Here’s some good news from the world of global public health to balance the top half of today’s newsletter: A livesaving malaria vaccine is about to get cheaper. It’s a small change — from about $4 to $2.99 per dose — but at scale, it’s set to make a big difference. Gavi, a global vaccine partnership, says the cut will let it fund 30 million more doses of vaccine over the next five years, potentially helping some 7 million children.
And if you want something a little more removed from the news cycle, here’s a great long read to file away for the holiday weekend: Defector wrote about the real Marty Supreme, table tennis star Marty Reisman, who served as inspiration for the upcoming film of the same name (about the fictional Marty Reisman).
