The Trump administration’s nomination of David Weldon to be the new director of the CDC has been withdrawn, according to Healthcare Innovation.
ABC News wrote that “the withdrawal came just before Weldon was to appear for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where he was expected to be grilled on his past comments questioning vaccine safety.” An Axios report quoted Democratic Senator Patty Murray as saying that “Weldon repeated debunked claims about vaccines in a meeting they had last month.”
Weldon apparently “didn't have the votes to be confirmed, according to two sources familiar with his nomination. This was the first time a CDC director nominee had to be Senate-confirmed. Weldon, a physician who served in Congress from 1995 until 2009, had kept a relatively low profile for years until being nominated by Trump in November. But his skepticism of established science around vaccines made him a popular pick among allies of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.”
The withdrawal of Weldon’s nomination comes against the backdrop of increasing measles cases across the U.S. and the postponement of the CDC Quality Conference, which is meant to “bring together a collaborative community of advocates, providers, researchers, and champions focused on a commitment of quality care for all.”
The article referenced in this story originally ran as “Trump CDC Director Nomination Pulled Hours Before Hearing” on Healthcare Innovation, an Endeavor Business Media partner site.
Matt MacKenzie | Associate Editor
Matt is Associate Editor for Healthcare Purchasing News.
