Following a gunman firing 180 bullets into the CDC buildings, 750 federal health employees have signed a letter.
An open letter signed by hundreds of federal health employees, including current HHS staff, has been sent to Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US Health and Human Services Secretary. They are urging him to stop spreading misinformation about health issues, especially after a gunman fired numerous bullets into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta.
Signatories accuse Kennedy of sowing public mistrust by questioning the integrity and morality of CDC’s workforce and by calling the health agency a “cesspool of corruption” during his recent presidential election campaign. They also criticize his policies, which include significant job cuts at HHS and have led to gaps in key areas such as infectious disease detection, worker safety, and chronic disease prevention and response.
The letter claims that Kennedy’s words and actions are putting lives at risk, pointing out his spread of false claims about vaccines, including the measles vaccine, and the recent attack on the CDC building as examples of the dangers resulting from his rhetoric.
The shooter, distrustful of COVID-19 vaccines, killed police officer David Rose and took his own life on August 8.
HHS has responded with a statement that Secretary Kennedy is standing with CDC employees, ensuring their safety and wellbeing remain a priority.
Kennedy has previously been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation and has cancelled millions of dollars in funding for research into mRNA vaccines, which have been credited with preventing millions of deaths from COVID-19 and have the potential to treat diseases such as cancer and HIV.
William Foege, the former director of the CDC, has urged public health workers to “not back down” and warned that Kennedy’s words are “as lethal as the smallpox virus,” calling for Americans to deserve better.
Signatories accuse Kennedy of sowing public mistrust by questioning the integrity and morality of CDC’s workforce and by calling the health agency a “cesspool of corruption” during his recent presidential election campaign. They also criticize his policies, which include significant job cuts at HHS and have led to gaps in key areas such as infectious disease detection, worker safety, and chronic disease prevention and response.
The letter claims that Kennedy’s words and actions are putting lives at risk, pointing out his spread of false claims about vaccines, including the measles vaccine, and the recent attack on the CDC building as examples of the dangers resulting from his rhetoric.
The shooter, distrustful of COVID-19 vaccines, killed police officer David Rose and took his own life on August 8.
HHS has responded with a statement that Secretary Kennedy is standing with CDC employees, ensuring their safety and wellbeing remain a priority.
Kennedy has previously been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation and has cancelled millions of dollars in funding for research into mRNA vaccines, which have been credited with preventing millions of deaths from COVID-19 and have the potential to treat diseases such as cancer and HIV.
William Foege, the former director of the CDC, has urged public health workers to “not back down” and warned that Kennedy’s words are “as lethal as the smallpox virus,” calling for Americans to deserve better.
