Murphy and Former CDC Leaders Discuss Right Wing Conspiracy Theories, CDC Shooting, and Violent Threats to America’s Scientists

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), on Wednesday questioned former Acting Director of the Center for Disease Control, Susan Monarez, and former Chief Medical Officer of the Center for Disease Control, Debra Houry, during the committee hearing Restoring Trust Through Radical Transparency: Reviewing Recent Events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Implications for Children's Health. The hearing was convened in response to the politically motivated firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez and in the wake of the horrific shooting at CDC Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia by a vaccine conspiracy extremist. Houry subsequently resigned in protest to Monarez's firing.

Murphy emphasized that baseless vaccine conspiracy theories are increasingly mainstream and motivating violence against public health employees: "I want to ask you about your fears… for the safety of our personnel at the CDC and the medical profession writ large, if more and more people believe that those that are recommending vaccines for our children and our families are hurting people. Clearly, you have to be unhinged to take a gun and fire it into a medical building, but these conspiracy theories about vaccines and about the people who are recommending vaccines, I fear they come with consequences. Do you fear for the safety of the CDC and of medical personnel if these beliefs about the CDC actually recommending things that hurt people continue to become mainstream?"

After Houry recounted the fear and trauma CDC employees experienced in response to the shooting, Murphy confirmed that threats of violence are actively chilling the CDC's ability to make sound public health recommendations: "So you know of personnel who now will not put their name behind good science that they know would protect the health and safety of families and children because of their fear of violence?"

An excerpted transcript of Murphy's exchange is available below.

MURPHY: Your op-ed opens with a harrowing account of the August 8 shooting, and clearly both you, the entire leadership and the entire building, is still reeling from that moment, 180 rounds being fired into the CDC. What a traumatizing event. I want to ask you about your fears - and Dr. Houry, I'll be glad to hear your thoughts as well - for the safety of our personnel at the CDC and the medical profession writ large, if more and more people believe that those that are recommending vaccines for our children and our families are hurting people. Clearly, you have to be unhinged to take a gun and fire it into a medical building, but these conspiracy theories about vaccines and about the people who are recommending vaccines, I fear they come with consequences. Do you fear for the safety of the CDC and of medical personnel if these beliefs about the CDC actually recommending things that hurt people continue to become mainstream?

MONAREZ: I do worry about that. I myself was subject to threats, and I am very concerned that the further promulgation of misleading information will undermine not just the safety and health of our children, but it will also exacerbate some of these tensions, the willingness to commit harm if someone is affronted by a belief that the people like us that are trying to help them are actually not trying to help them.

HOURY: And I would just say it was 500 rounds. It was 180 that hit the building.

MURPHY: 180 that hit the building.

HOURY: Each bullet was meant for a person, and each of my staff were very traumatized afterwards. I had staff that were covering their kids in the daycare parking lot. There were people that were out at the ride share as bullets were passing over their head. I have many that won't speak about vaccines now and have removed their names off of papers - they don't wish to present publicly anymore because they feel they were personally targeted because of misinformation.

MURPHY: So you know of personnel who now will not put their name behind good science -

HOURY: Correct.

MURPHY: - That they know would protect the health and safety of families and children because of their fear of violence.

HOURY: Correct. And even at the ACIP meeting, you'll notice we don't have our subject matter experts presenting anymore. It's taken up to a leadership level because we did that to protect our staff and scientists, so that they would be disconnected and their names not associated, so that they won't be targeted.

###