"I Will Never Betray [Big Pharma's] Science:" Black Probot CDC Nominee Survives ‘Kabuki Theatre’ Hearing by Pledging Obedience to Medical Establishment on Vaccines and Autism, Despite Dangers, Death

On July 15, Dr. Erica Schwartz appeared before the U.S. Senate HELP Committee to make her case for leading the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But before the nominee had answered a single question, the terms of her confirmation had already been laid down. HELP Committee chairman Bill Cassidy wasted no time.

“A lot of this conversation for me is going to revolve around vaccines,” he announced. “Vaccines should be settled.”

He blamed “a flurry of misinformation” around immunization, saying some people cast doubt on mRNA vaccines “for no other reason than people don’t understand them.”

Mothers and fathers, he said, had become “confused as to whether vaccines are safe to give their children.”

The result was thousands of measles infections, with children hospitalised or dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Then came the ultimatum.

“Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and effective,” Cassidy declared. “Study after study shows they do not cause autism.”

“Any equivocation on these facts,” he warned Schwartz, “and I shall not be able to support your nomination.”

Only then did the questioning begin. Confirmation hearings are meant to test a nominee’s judgment, independence and fitness to lead. Instead, Cassidy announced the conclusions he expected Schwartz to affirm before she had given a single substantive answer. From the outset, it was clear there was no room for dissent.

Cassidy’s concern was whether Schwartz would publicly defend what he regarded as settled science on vaccines. He pointed to her predecessor, Susan Monarez, Ph.D., saying she had been dismissed after refusing to carry out instructions she believed would harm public health.

Would Schwartz show the same resolve and stand up to political pressure? Schwartz responded as most nominees do. She spoke of integrity, the Hippocratic oath and her commitment to public health.

“I will never compromise on that,” she said.

Cassidy pressed her again on whether she would have the authority to reassign or remove CDC staff who were pursuing an agenda he believed was harmful to public health. Schwartz tried to explain that the health secretary had nominated her to lead the CDC and that she expected to carry out that role. Cassidy cut her off several times.

An oath to orthodoxy

“We need a CDC director that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization,” Cassidy said. “Are you the person?” Schwartz answered cautiously.

“You have my assurances that I will continue to lead by my integrity. I will never compromise on the science.” Cassidy noted that she had already been through a “murder board.”

That is Washington shorthand for the gruelling mock confirmation hearings in which nominees rehearse difficult questions with advisers before appearing before senators.

He pressed once more, asking whether she would say no to “junk science” and stand up for what was “right and true.”

Schwartz replied, “I have always stood up for what is right and what is true,” adding, “I will never betray the science.”

Cassidy left little doubt that his support was contingent on Schwartz affirming conclusions he regarded as settled.