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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Contact: Michael Budkie, 513-703-9865
CDC Director Resignation Only Tip of Problem at Federal Agency - Watchdog Chronicles Public Safety Concerns, Calls for Independent Probe of CDC
ATLANTA, GA – The resignation of Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because of a conflict of interest – she bought stock in tobacco, which kills a half million Americans annually – came as no surprise to an Ohio-based national research watchdog group that has been tracking CDC public safety failures.
SAEN, a non-governmental watchdog, has been calling for an independent investigation of animal cruelty at the CDC Atlanta laboratory after internal federal reports revealed numerous incidents of animal deaths due to crushing, and starvation, and the negligent exposure of dozens of animals to serious pathogens.
SAEN said recently obtained federal reports document multiple incidents of negligence at the CDC resulting in bungled projects, and serious danger to public safety.
Projects impacted by CDC malfeasance, as SAEN describes it, involve monkey pox, and influenza A(H3), which is currently causing major problems in the human population across the U.S.
SAEN said the CDC accidentally and negligently contaminated dozens of potential subjects with monkey pox or influenza A(H3), gave them an accidental inoculation with incorrect sample, and failed to provide treatment, among other violations of federal law.
Additionally, one research subject likely starved to death due to undiagnosed malocclusion, another subject was euthanized due to head trauma, yet another subject was euthanized due to trauma, and a monkey died for lack of veterinary care.
SAEN has contacted CDC Associate Director for Science, Dr. Ron Otten, calling for an independent probe of CDC research because of a multi-year pattern of negligence and carelessness. The 16-page letter recounts a laundry list of animal deaths, bungled protocols, research accidents, and public safety risks.
SAEN's assessment of the government reports is that if the CDC were regulated similarly to private laboratories, the facility would have been fined by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, if not closed entirely.
"One must begin to wonder if CDC staff knows even the basics of animal care or anything about the protocols it is supposedly performing," said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T, executive director and co-founder of SAEN. "It is shocking that two animals died because CDC staff couldn't be bothered to correctly place animal feeders. This is the utmost in clear unadulterated negligence."
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