Former CDC heads speak out against Trump administration’s public health leadership : NPR

Steve Inskeep, host:

One of the names of the letter we just talked about is Dr. Richard Beser. He was an acting director of the CDC in 2009, which was at the start of the pandemic pandemic porcine. Now he is president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is a philanthropic organization focused on public health. And we will reveal that they are also an NPR financial supporter. We cover them like anyone else. Dr Beser, hello.

Richard Besser: Hello, Steve. It’s good to be here.

Inskeep: You must always know the people who are or, until recently, inside the CDC. What do you mean inside the agency?

Besser: Well, I hear a number of things. First, I hear the gratitude that people speak and say that it is not as usual. You know, the CDC, I worked there for 13 years and, you know, I organized a preparation and a response to the emergency room during the Bush administration, then I did an interim director during the Obama administration. And it never matter. It is an agency full of technical experts that focus on protecting people’s health here and world. What we see now is not business as usual. It is an agency that suffered from morale problems before this administration. You know, during the cocovated pandemic, we saw the politicization of public health as we have never seen before, and political leaders who marked points to condemn and criticize the CDC.

We have therefore lost many public health leaders at the federal, state and local levels during this period. And hope was that with this administration, with reset, we would begin to see people’s confidence and faith in the return of public health. And instead, we saw a secretary enter who not only work to improve the morale of the agency, but he came with an anti-vaccine, anti-vaccine health program, that he was extremely demoralizing for the people who work there.

Inskeep: It is very interesting to emphasize this. You had a case with the incoming administration according to which the skeptics of the vaccines enter the government, and a plausibility would have been that they were going to enter, to look around, to speak to the experts, to learn more evidence and to decide that public health was a little safer and to give a little more reassurance to those who are skeptical. You say that the opposite has occurred.

Besser: the exact opposite. You know, the secretary was known to be one of the country’s main anti-vaccine defenders. He came, he deleted the Committee of Experts which provide such critical information. I am a general pediatrician and I am practiced for more than 30 years, and I always turn to the CDC for the recommendations for my patients, you know, what vaccines should I use? Who is at risk? I tell people now, don’t do that. You know, talk to your own doctor, talk to your nurse, talk to your pharmacist, but you cannot be assured that the recommendations from the CDC for vaccines are based on the best evidence.

This is why the current director has resigned. This is why we have seen – or that is why she was dismissed. She refused to approve these recommendations. And that is why we have seen the resignations of critical leaders from the agency. They did not think that their names could appear on the agency and present themselves that they supported these recommendations from the secretary who did not imply their consultation and are not based on the best science.

Inskeep: You say that as a pediatrician, you have the CDC in the past. This is something we have done in our family – what does the CDC say about it or that? You say explicitly, no longer listen to the CDC. I can’t trust them. Is there someone you can trust, an authority that a doctor can trust for information here?

Besser: Yeah. And, you know, we see medical organizations intensify, and it is extremely important. The organization that represents pediatricians – I am a member – they have published recommendations. The organization that represents the Obgyns. There are a number of activities that continue to try to provide the medical community with the information they need so that they can support their patients. But it’s incredibly confusing. If the government says one thing, you have your doctor and others say another, it’s very difficult for patients.

And more than that, you know, in our country, if the CDC recommends a vaccine – we have a program called vaccines for Children, which guarantees that each child can obtain the vaccine, regardless of income or insurance. Now this is not the case. You know, if the CDC does not recommend it, we will be in a situation where if you have money in your pocket, you can get the vaccine. And if you don’t do it, you’re going to get in trouble.

Inskeep: So this is not freedom of choice on vaccines, does it remove the choice of many people?

Besser: Exactly. And in America, people should have the right to make this decision.

Inskeep: Dr. Richard Besser was acting director of the CDC. He is now at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Thank you so much.

Besser: Thank you, Steve.

Inskeep: We contacted the Ministry of Health and Social Services for Comments, by the way. We haven’t heard. Over time, we invited RFK Jr. to come back to this program. He has already been sure. He is welcome.

(Soundbite of Black Moth Super Rainbow “Smile The After Today”)

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the pages of use of the conditions of use of our website on www.npr.org for more information.

The accuracy and availability of NPR transcriptions may vary. The transcription text can be revised to correct errors or match audio updates. Audio on npr.org can be published after its original broadcast or publication. The file authorizing the NPR programming is the audio recording.