Nine former leaders of the United States’ leading health agency have warned about the agency’s dismantling under Donald Trump’s administration and stated that vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “endangers the health of every American,” AFP reported.

The clear statement, published as a guest essay in The New York Times, is the latest in a series of criticisms against the U.S. Secretary of Health following the dismissal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director just weeks into the role.

Susan Monares was relieved of her duties last week after a conflict with Kennedy and her refusal to support his changes to vaccination policy. The dismissal led to the resignation of at least four senior officials and further destabilized the agency’s operations.

“We ran the CDC: Kennedy endangers the health of every American,” wrote the nine former leaders of the historically independent institution, who served under every president from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump.

They highlighted how Kennedy has fired thousands of federal health workers, weakened programs for cancer, heart attack, and other disease prevention, and during the largest measles outbreak in decades promoted “unverified treatments” while downplaying vaccines.

Kennedy has also supported federal laws expected to deprive millions of people of health coverage, the experts noted. “This is unacceptable and should alarm every American, regardless of political affiliation,” they added, including Dr. Ann Schuchat, who served as acting CDC director during Trump’s first term.

The harsh criticism came a day after Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned in protest as director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases following Monares’ dismissal, stated that “the barrier between science and ideology is completely broken” within the agency.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump said he wants more information published regarding “various Covid treatments” introduced during the pandemic. “Many people believe they are a miracle that saved millions of lives. Others disagree!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “With the CDC torn apart by this issue, I want answers, and I want them NOW.” | BGNES