President-elect Trump on Friday announced appointments to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), and the Surgeon General, finalizing his health team for his next term in the White House.
In a flurry of administration announcements on Friday, President Trump said he has appointed Johns Hopkins University surgeon Marty McCurry to lead the FDA. The next president has selected former Florida congressman Dave Weldon (Republican) to head the CDC, and physician Janet Nesheiwat has been nominated to be the next surgeon general.
Just over a week ago, the president-elect announced that he would nominate environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), causing alarm in the public health community.
Some medical experts say President Kennedy does not have the authority to ban vaccines, a medical practice he has criticized, but he may consider rescinding his recommendations and scaling back vaccine funding requests. It is said that there is.
On Tuesday, President Trump announced that he would nominate TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has not yet been announced.
FDA Commissioner
President Trump plans to nominate McCurry to head the FDA, but the position will require Senate confirmation. The FDA oversees the security and safety of medical devices, cosmetics, food, and drugs.
McCurry is an author and a surgical oncologist at Johns Hopkins University. Mr. McCurry has at times expressed paradoxical views regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
in Editorialhe emphasized the importance of herd immunity during the pandemic.
“However, herd immunity is an inevitable outcome of viral spread and vaccination. When the chain of viral transmission is broken in multiple places, it becomes more difficult for the virus to spread, including new strains.” wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal in February 2021, predicting that herd immunity would be achieved by April.
He also criticized the FDA for halting the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in 2021 due to blood clot complications in some patients.
“Dr. McCurry, who has dedicated his career to high-quality, low-cost health care, will restore FDA to the gold standard in scientific research and cut through FDA red tape to ensure Americans have access to health care. “I am confident that they will receive the care and treatment they deserve,” Trump wrote in the announcement.
CDC Director
President Trump has nominated Weldon to be the next CDC director. This position also requires Senate confirmation.
Weldon is an Army veteran and a physician who served seven terms in the House of Representatives. He has held positions on several House committees, including Health and Human Services and Appropriations. After his stint on Capitol Hill, which ended in 2008, he returned to his medical practice.
Weldon received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has expressed skepticism about some vaccines. In 2007, he introduced legislation that would move oversight of vaccine safety away from the CDC and into an independent agency within HHS.
“There are enormous conflicts of interest within the CDC, and unless vaccine safety can be moved to another independent department, safety issues will remain a low priority and public demand for vaccines will remain low.” Trust will continue to erode,” Weldon said. said at that time.
surgeon general
President Trump has nominated Neshewat, a physician and Fox News contributor, to be the next Surgeon General. The Senate must confirm Neshewat's appointment.
She graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and is a dual board certified physician who works at CityMD, a collection of urgent care centers. She has written a book titled “Beyond the Stethoscope: A Medical Miracle.”
“I am proud to announce that Dr. Janet Nesheiwat will become the nation’s physician as the United States Surgeon General. He is a fully board-certified physician,” President Trump said Friday.
