Jim O’Neill, former investor, criticism of health regulations and the deputy of the Secretary in the United States of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., takes control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) American after a tumultuous week during which the agency director was forced.
O’Neill was chosen by US President Donald Trump to be the acting director of the CDC, supplanting Susan Monarez, a long -standing government scientist.
Monarez has been director of the CDC for less than a month. Her lawyers said she refused to “stadium non -scientific rubber, reckless guidelines and health experts dedicated to fire”.
O’Neill takes over an agency that has been shaken by Kennedy’s layoffs, resignations and efforts to reshape the nation’s vaccination policies to match its long -standing suspicions on the safety and efficiency of long -standing established fire.
In a position of social networks on Friday afternoon, O’Neill said that he was eager to work with CDC staff and “announce additions to high management in the coming weeks”. He added that he would continue to be deputy secretary of the American Department of Health and Social Services (HHS).
A former partner of the billionaire technology entrepreneur Peter Thiel, O’Neill previously helped manage one of Thiel’s investment funds and then managed several of his other projects. These included a non-profit organization working to develop artificial islands that would float outside the American territory, allowing them to experiment with new forms of government.
He has no training in medicine or health care and holds a baccalaureate and a master’s degree in the humanities.
Unclear level of independence
O’Neill has kept a profile significantly lower than the other senior health officials of Trump, who all joined the administration as Washington Outsiders. He is also the only one to have work experience at HHS, where he served for six years under the American president George W. Bush.
The White House ourselves ourselves from Susan Monarez, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just a few weeks after being confirmed in work. However, her lawyers say that she remains the director of the CDC, saying that only American president Donald Trump can dismiss her and the announcement of the White House is insufficient.
Those who know him say he will probably be responsible for trying to calm the situation at the CDC – although it is not clear what, if necessary, that he will have Kennedy.
“Jim O’Neill is a health policy professional and I don’t think anyone can accuse him of being a RFK Jr. Sock puppet,” said Peter Pitts, former FDA official under Bush.
“The question becomes whether the role of the director of the CDC becomes a strictly paper tiger position, where the person only does what they were told by the secretary.”
O’Neill is not closely associated with the “Make America Healthy Again” movement from Kennedy and his efforts against food dyes, fluoride and ultra -propriety.
Nor was he a major criticism of public health measures during the pandemic, unlike the head of the American Food and Drug Administration Marty Makary and other Trump officials. However, O’Neill used social media to criticize FDA’s efforts to stop the prescription of unproven treatments for COVID-19, including the Ivermectin anti-parasite medication.
Eyed for the best FDA post during the 1st term Trump
O’Neill has long -standing ties with the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, notably Thiel, one of the main supporters of Trump of Silicon Valley. Like Thiel, O’Neill has expressed his disdain for many parts of the federal bureaucracy, saying that it hinders the progress of medicine, technology and other areas.
During Trump’s first term, O’Neill was verified as a possible choice to direct the FDA, although its declarations made on the agency made alarms among the leaders of pharmaceutical and medical technology.
In particular, O’Neill has proposed to remove the Mandate of the FDA 60 years to ensure that new drugs are both safe and effective in the treatment of diseases. In a 2014 speech, O’Neill suggested that the effectiveness of the drug could be established after the drugs hit the market.
Trump finally appointed Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA official and supporter of the agency’s regulatory approach, as a commissioner.
No criticism of Kennedy’s opinions on vaccines
After being nominated at the HHS Post, O’Neill expressed his support for the traditional federal government system to supervise vaccines – including the role of the CDC – while refusing to criticize Kennedy’s opinions on the subject.
“I support CDC recommendations for vaccines,” O’Neill told the Louisiana Republican, Senator Bill Cassidy, during a confirmation hearing in June. “I think it is a central role of CDC. It is mandated in law.”
In follow -up issues, Democrat Ron Wyden pressed O’Neill on Kennedy’s statements minimizing the safety and efficiency of vaccines to prevent measles and other diseases.
“Secretary Kennedy did not make people difficult or discouraged to take vaccines,” replied O’Neill.
In a few weeks, O’Neill could be invited to sign new recommendations from a CDC panel that Kennedy has reshaped with vaccine skeptics. The group is expected to meet next month to examine vaccinations for measles, hepatitis and other conditions that have long been established on the government’s vaccination calendar for children.
Traditionally, the CDC director signs recommendations for the panel. But Monarez was ousted after, among others, she refused to automatically sign the committee’s recommendations, according to Dr. Richard Beser, a former acting director of the CDC who spoke to her.
A time limit for action leaders
As acting manager, the Federal O’Neill Limit law has no more than 210 days at the head of the agency before having to withdraw or be officially nominated for the post.
DRE Anne Schuhat, who was director of the acting CDC, says that there is essentially no limit to the powers of acting agency leaders, beyond counter-control.
“I was told:” You are the director. Do what you need to do, “said Schuchat.
The two roles of O’Neill in HHS and CDC are full -time and full -time jobs that would be extremely difficult for a person to be done simultaneously, said Schuchat.
“But if the objective is to ensure that an acting director of the CDC is made a predetermined decision concerning vaccines, this is another story,” said Schuchat.
This will not help where there was an exodus this week of four CDC Center directors, leaving the agency with few leaders who have training in medicine, science or management of the public health crisis, she added.
