Former CDC director to be in charge of Merck vaccine division
December 23rd, 2009
Yesterday I posted a piece on conflicts-of-interest in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine safety panels. That story was bad enough as it will feed the fears of vaccines permeating major sectors of the country. Today brings more concerns as we hear that the former CDC Director at the time the biased panel was appointed has been hired by pharmaceutical giant Merck to head its vaccine division.
Dr. Gerberding will lead the company’s $5 billion global vaccine business. Merck currently markets a broad range of pediatric, adolescent and adult vaccines and is a leading provider of vaccines in countries around the world; in the U.S., Merck markets vaccines for 12 of the 17 diseases for which the U.S. Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices currently recommends vaccines. She will be responsible for the commercialization of the current portfolio of vaccines, planning for the introduction of vaccines from the company’s robust vaccine pipeline, and accelerating Merck’s on-going efforts to broaden access to its vaccines in the developing world. Dr. Gerberding will also collaborate with leaders of Merck Manufacturing Division and Merck Research Laboratories to manage the critical linkages between basic research, late-stage development and manufacturing to expand Merck’s vaccine offerings throughout the world. (Merck Press Release. Thanks revere.)
Federal agencies like CDC, and the public health project in general, depend crucially upon public trust. From my experience, that trust is generally well-deserved. But news like these stories can severely undermine that trust. I’d hate to face a pandemic if a majority of the population didn’t trust the impartiality of public health spokespersons.
Entry Filed under: Public Health
1 Comment
1. jack shalom | December 23rd, 2009 at 10:27 pm
I don’t have the same trust as you do. And I think the majority of Americans do not. I don’t think there is one federal agency that hasn’t been thoroughly corrupted in the past decade. Not that there aren’t good people out there–but they are overruled or driven out by those serving the corporate interests. I’m not taking a position on vaccines either way–what I am saying is that people have very rational reasons for disbelieving what public health officials have to say during an emergency. It didn’t work out very well during 9/11 as we later found out about Christie Whitman’s lies about the air quality near Ground Zero. The system is very very broken and people know it.