White House Withdraws Nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon to Lead CDC

The White House has withdrawn its nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon to serve as the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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In a new statement, Dr. Jeffrey Singer says, “As a medical doctor, I had serious concerns about Dr. Weldon’s nomination. He has a long history of vaccine skepticism, even providing a platform for Andrew Wakefield, the author of a later-retracted article in The Lancet, which is primarily responsible for the debunked and long-disproved theory that the Measles/​Mumps/​Rubella vaccine causes autism. The vaccine skepticism he continued to promote during his 14 years in Congress has contributed to the recent decline in childhood vaccinations, threatening the potential re-emergence of measles and endangering Americans, especially after the CDC had deemed it eradicated at the beginning of the century.

For several years, the CDC has strayed from its core mission of preventing the spread of communicable and infectious diseases by involving itself in personal health issues better left to adults to decide in consultation with their health care practitioners. Weldon’s nomination made me anxious that he might lead the agency further astray by discouraging the public from utilizing proven infection preventatives and risk further undermining trust in public health institutions. I am relieved that the White House withdrew his nomination.”

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