At a recent town hall assembly within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists were whispering about an unfamiliar and enigmatic attendee: Stuart Burns. A conservative in his sixties, with strikingly youthful hair and a amicable disposure, Burns was a mystery to the physicians, epidemiologists, and officials at the meeting. These specialists had gathered to discuss their concerns surrounding the reforming of their organization, and how the change in leadership could potentially impact public health significantly.
They raised questions about specialists supporting the anti-vaccine movement allegedly substituting the expert members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a respected federal vaccine advisory group. Alternate health theories seemed to be creeping into their once-pristine precincts of rigorous scientific commitment, and they were perplexed by the paradigm shift.
Upon being asked about the changes, Burns, who had recently been chosen as the senior advisor to the director of the CDC (the director’s position is still vacant), intercepted the question confidently. He stated that he had been busy in the days leading up to the assembly, particularly the weekend, working tirelessly to onboard the new members for the ACIP.
He confirmed with a sincere smile that he had been in discussions with the organization’s staff late into the evening and across weekends, aiming to prepare the new panelists for the July ACIP conference. He appeared confident of their appointment, but critics feared that the new entrants might infuse anti-vaccination sentiments and colluding interests into a group known for its scientific integrity and impartiality.
Despite the fog of uncertainty surrounding Stuart Burns, he was not a complete unknown within the CDC. In fact, his name had appeared in an April memo announcing temporary leadership changes following numerous terminations and resignations. Among the agency’s longest-working and most experienced employees, particularly in departments associated with vaccines, Burns had an established reputation.
Running political missions for Republicans since the early 1990s, Burns had carved a rather notable path in the anti-vaccine movement. A native Georgian, he had spent about three decades in Florida, Texas, and the capital, serving former Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla for an extended period between 1995 and 2008 as both legislative director and second-in-command.
Noteworthy was HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s attempt to usher Weldon, infamous for his anti-vaccination views, into the director’s role at the CDC. Objections pertaining to these views led to the withdrawal of the nomination, but as the advisor’s role did not necessitate Senate approval, Burns, Weldon’s deputy, was appointed instead.
Despite being neither a scientist nor a physician, Burns was chosen to oversee vaccine projects for the agency. Defending this choice, an HHS spokesperson cited Burns’ experience in health policy while serving as a legislative aide for Republicans.
Burns played a decidedly central role during the momentum to relate vaccines with autism in the early 2000s, functioning as a mediator between activists and scholars. Both CDC veterans and three former legislative members who worked with Burns characterized his actions of these years. He enabled numerous meetings between anti-vaccine advocates and government representatives, aligning access to CDC data for Mark and David Geier, researchers erroneously associating vaccines and autism.
Burns orchestrated media and lobbying strategies with activists, spurring medical journals to publish dismissed anti-vaccine research, and advocating for anti-vaccine activists to give advice on government-funded studies. He publicly dismissed studies refuting supposed correlations between vaccines and autism, with various sources describing him as an untiring organizer operating behind the scenes.
Avoiding the public limelight, Burns’ motivations behind his fervor over vaccines remained an enigma, yet a former CDC staff described it as a ‘religious mission’. Alongside Burns, several new appointments with either minimal public health experience or clear connections to the anti-vaccine movement that Kennedy fueled, were being made across different HHS agencies.
This comprehensive restructuring of vaccine policies was occurring amidst a wave of escalating public health crises. Measles outbreaks had affected hundreds, claiming the lives of two unvaccinated children. Meanwhile, there was a growing trend of vaccine hesitancy; a recent survey indicated only 40% of expectant mothers and parents of young kids intended to follow the recommended vaccine regimen.
Simultaneously, Burns seemed to be profiting from a leadership void in the CDC. With the termination of two Trump supporters and numerous critical positions remaining vacant – a situation highlighted by the fact that nearly a third of top leadership positions at the HHS remained unreserved – he found himself in an unusually influential space. With a deficit of career leaders, political appointees were commanding unprecedented power.
Burns used this newfound authority to accomplish what seemed to be a longstanding goal. According to Dr. Paul Offit, a prominent opposing voice to Kennedy and the anti-vaccine movement and the inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, the activists who were on the margins for years, had now gained policy-making abilities.
The post Stuart Burns: A Mysterious Figure Puzzling the CDC appeared first on Real News Now.
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