Time Line of Events:

• A bureaucratic shuffle within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prompted a political firestorm among experts in worker health and safety and has reignited questions about the Bush administration's commitment to sound science.
   

Internal Dissension Grows as CDC Faces Big Threats to Public Health
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 6, 2005; Page A09

• the departure of dozens of its most respected scientists, concerns about political interference and a pending budget cut of nearly $500 million...critics describe it as a kind of Alice in Wonderland environment where the CDC director is like the Queen of Hearts," the senior official said. "You know, 'Off with their heads.' It's a very autocratic and unpredictable environment."
   

HMA's, Weekend for Awareness- May 2005 Capital Hill Summit, and National March on DC concluded at Health and Human Service, in protest of the Centers for Disease Control policy for corporate takeover of diseases.

Exodus Morale shake CDC
ALISON YOUNG
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/10/06

• An exodus of key leaders and scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has raised "great concern" among five of the six former directors who led the agency over the past 40 years.
   

• On Sunday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the story that the CDC employees who have been receiving the bulk of cash awards and performance bonuses are not scientists, but management and administrative personnel. The paper's report, authored by Alison Young, was based on CDC awards documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. It prompted an immediate response from the CDC, which is now launching its own investigation of the awards system.
   

CDC's 60th Anniversary: Director's Perspective
Expansion of Public Health
October 6, 2006 / 55(39);1071-1074
William H. Foege,
M.D., M.P.H., 1977--1983

• One Senate Committee demanded the names of persons investigated....so that it could perform its own investigation. The names were not provided. A congressman demanded the names of persons in CDC files......Again, the demand was refused. But the time and effort required to counter such political intrusions increased and became a fact of life that continues to decrease the efficiency of public health workers. CDC needs to continue to base its decisions on the best available science, but factors beyond science continue to contribute to public policy decisions.
   

CDC Director denies reorganization is weakening public health agency.
PUBLIC HEALTH: Gerberding Defends Her Transformation of CDC
Science Magazine, Oct 13, 2006
By Jocelyn Kaiser and Jennifer Couzin

• ...turmoil has contributed to the departures of the heads of six of CDC's eight original main centers, such as James Hughes, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, as well as other seasoned scientists. The story also revealed that last December, five former CDC directors sent Gerberding a letter expressing "great concern"
   

Overhaul scrutinized by House panel
By Alison Young
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/25/06  -

• A controversial reorganization of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is coming under increased scrutiny by Congress.....asked CDC Director Julie Gerberding for a briefing on the reorganization