STAT: CDC director’s investment in tobacco, drug companies baffles ethics experts
“It was a financial investment in a tobacco company that helped lead to the downfall of Brenda Fitzgerald, who until Wednesday was the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For many in the public health community, the notion that the head of the CDC held shares of a company in an industry that has been so anathema to the agency’s mission was shocking. But Fitzgerald also purchased shares in pharma giants Merck and Bayer after taking over the CDC — an apparent conflict of interest that also confounded government ethics experts…” (Branswell, 1/31).

Washington Post: CDC employees are delighted that their acting director is back in charge
“…When the notice finally went out on the CDC’s internal announcement board that the principal deputy director, Anne Schuchat, 58, with nearly three decades of CDC experience, would be taking over (again) as acting director, employees were very happy to hear the news. … [Schuchat] served as acting director for six months in 2017 after Tom Frieden resigned from the post and before Fitzgerald was appointed…” (Sun, 2/1).