Changes in CDC Testing Guidance Published Over Objections of Scientists
Pressure to Downplay Virus Latest in Long Line of Trump’s Attempts To Override Once Independent Agencies and Their Scientists
The New York Times report that The White House rewrote CDC testing guidance over the objections of scientists is only the latest example of the Trump administration politicizing once independent agencies meant to keep the country safe. Now, as the United States approaches the gruesome mark of 200,000 lives lost to the virus, this new revelation just highlights that President Trump continues to fail this country by putting politics ahead of science and American lives.
A New York Times Report Revealed That The Department Health And Human Services Officials Rewrote Testing Guidance Over Objections of Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- The Department Of Health And Human Services Rewrote Testing Guidelines To Say That Testing Asymptomatic Individuals Was Not Necessary And Uploaded Them To The CDC Website Without Subjecting Them To The CDC’s Scientific Review Process. “A heavily criticized recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month about who should be tested for the coronavirus was not written by C.D.C. scientists and was posted to the agency’s website despite their serious objections… The guidance said it was not necessary to test people without symptoms of Covid-19 even if they had been exposed to the virus. It came at a time when public health experts were pushing for more testing rather than less, and administration officials told The Times that the document was a C.D.C. product and had been revised with input from the agency’s director, Dr. Robert Redfield. But officials told The Times this week that the Department of Health and Human Services did the rewriting and then ‘dropped’ it into the C.D.C.’s public website, flouting the agency’s strict scientific review process.” [New York Times, 9/17/20]
- The New Guidelines “Came From The Top Down,” And Do Not Reflect The Views Of Many CDC Employees. “‘That was a doc that came from the top down, from the H.H.S. and the task force,’ said a federal official with knowledge of the matter, referring to the White House task force on the coronavirus. ‘That policy does not reflect what many people at the C.D.C. feel should be the policy.’ The document contains ‘elementary errors’ — such as referring to ‘testing for Covid-19,’ as opposed to testing for the virus that causes it — and recommendations inconsistent with the C.D.C.’s stance that mark it to anyone in the know as not having been written by agency scientists, according to a senior C.D.C. scientist who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of a fear of repercussions.” [New York Times, 9/17/20]
- A “Talking Points” Memo Was Circulated At The CDC That Instructed Employees To Say The CDC Was Involved In Developing The New Guidance. “After the new guidance was published, media inquiries to the agency about its contents were directed to the Department of Health and Human Services, prompting speculation about its origins. C.D.C. scientists were asked to make sure other pages on the website were consistent with the new recommendations. And a ‘talking points’ memo circulated within the agency on Sept. 1 instructed employees to say that the C.D.C. was involved in developing the new guidance ‘with suggested comments and edits shared back with HHS and the White House Taskforce.’ That sort of instruction would not have been necessary had the document been written by the C.D.C. staff, according to experts familiar with the agency’s procedures. ‘Never seen that talking point before,’ a C.D.C. scientist said.” [New York Times, 9/17/20]
The Trump Administration Has Politicized, Pressured and Manipulated Independent Agencies Throughout The Pandemic
- Trump Smeared The CDC For Asking Schools To Do “Impractical” Things To Protect Student Safety. “I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!” [Twitter, Donald Trump, 7/8/20]
- By July, The CDC, “Muzzled, Neutered And Exiled,” Had Held Only Two Public Briefings After More Than Three Months Of Silence — During H1N1, The CDC Held Public Briefings Almost Every Day For Six Weeks. “The Washington Post reported on ways health officials felt the Trump administration had muzzled the CDC: “Jeffrey Duchin, the health officer at Seattle and King County health department, added: ‘Agree. Muzzled, neutered and exiled.’ The agency has been largely invisible. After more than three months of silence, it resumed briefings for the public last month. There have been two. By comparison, when the H1N1 swine flu pandemic hit the United States in the spring of 2009, the CDC held briefings almost every day for six consecutive weeks.” [Washington Post, 7/9/20]
- The Trump Administration Removed Coronavirus Warnings About Choirs From The Reopening Guidelines For Communities Of Faith. “The Trump administration with no advance notice removed warnings contained in guidance for the reopening of houses of worship that singing in choirs can spread the coronavirus. Last Friday, the administration released pandemic guidance for faith communities after weeks of debate flared between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those guidelines posted on the CDC website included recommendations that religious communities ‘consider suspending or at least decreasing use of choir/musical ensembles and congregant singing, chanting, or reciting during services or other programming, if appropriate within the faith tradition.’ It added: ‘The act of singing may contribute to transmission of Covid-19, possibly through emission of aerosols.’ By Saturday, that version was replaced by updated guidance that no longer includes any reference to choirs or congregant singing and the risk for spreading virus.” [Washington Post, 5/28/20]
- The White House Rejected CDC Guidelines For Reopening, Deeming Them “Overly Prescriptive” And Blocking Their Publication. “A copy of the C.D.C. guidance obtained by The New York Times includes sections for child care programs, schools and day camps, churches and other ‘communities of faith,’ employers with vulnerable workers, restaurants and bars, and mass transit administrators. The recommendations include using disposable dishes and utensils at restaurants, closing every other row of seats in buses and subways while restricting transit routes among areas experiencing different levels of coronavirus infection, and separating children at school and camps into groups that should not mix throughout the day. But White House and other administration officials rejected the recommendations over concerns that they were overly prescriptive, infringed on religious rights and risked further damaging an economy that Mr. Trump was banking on to recover quickly. One senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services with deep ties to religious conservatives objected to any controls on church services.” [New York Times, 5/7/20]
- The Occupational Safety And Health Administration Released A Memo That Said Employers Were Not Required To Record Outbreaks Or Cases Among Employees. “The Trump administration announced Friday afternoon that employers outside of the health care industry generally won’t be required to record coronavirus cases among their workers, a decision that left some workplace safety advocates incredulous. COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is classified as a recordable illness, meaning employers would have to notify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration when an employee gets sick from an exposure at work. But the nation’s top workplace safety agency now says the majority of U.S. employers won’t have to try to determine whether employees’ infections happened in the workplace unless it’s obvious… But if employers don’t have to try to figure out whether a transmission happened in the workplace, it could leave both them and the government in the dark about emerging hotspots in places like retail stores or meatpacking plants.” [Huffington Post, 4/11/20]
- Trump Strong-Armed The FDA Into Approving An Emergency Use Authorization For Convalescent Plasma, An Unproven Therapy, Against The Advice Of Experts. “The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday gave emergency approval for expanded use of antibody-rich blood plasma to help hospitalized coronavirus patients, allowing President Trump, who has been pressuring the agency to move faster to address the pandemic, to claim progress on the eve of the Republican convention. Mr. Trump cited the approval, which had been held up by concerns among top government scientists about the data behind it, as welcome news in fighting a disease that has led to 176,000 deaths in the United States and left the nation lagging far behind most others in the effectiveness of its response.” [New York Times, 8/23/20]
- As Trump Championed The Drug, In March The FDA Issued An Emergency Use Authorization For Hydroxychloroquine, Which It Was Later Forced To Revoke. “After months of debate and intense research concerning hydroxychloroquine, FDA officials on Monday revoked their Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the antimalarial drug that President Donald Trump has promoted in the fight against Covid-19. When the EUA was issued in late March, no high-quality studies of the drug’s ability to prevent and treat Covid-19 were yet available. Now, a handful of randomized trials have failed to find any benefit associated with hydroxychloroquine use.” [WIRED, 6/17/20]