Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham — a vocal supporter of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement and a harsh critic of Covid shots — has been named principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the appointment to NBC News, though it hadn’t been made public as of Tuesday afternoon
The principal deputy director at the CDC is a high-level appointment. As second-in-command, Abraham would be in a position to act as a key adviser on a variety of public health issues
Abraham, a three-term Louisiana congressman, practiced for 10 years as a veterinarian before he went to medical school. According to his biography on the Louisiana Health Department website, Abraham was a “practicing family medicine physician” when he was appointed state surgeon general last year. He described himself as a “country doctor” in an essay published in April
While Abraham is licensed to practice medicine in Louisiana, the Louisiana Illustrator reported in February that he didn’t appear to be board-certified in the specialty of family medicine. A search for Abraham on the American Board of Family Medicine’s website yielded no results. A separate search on the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiner’s site lists Abraham as a general practitioner but not a family medicine doctor. (Board certification isn’t required to practice any particular specialty, but it’s viewed as an extra layer to ensure a doctor’s credentials, experience and expertise, according to the American Board of Physician Specialties.)
Abraham’s new position makes him the most senior scientist at the CDC. The current acting director, Jim O’Neill, is not a medical doctor
Dr. Richard Besser, who was an acting director of the CDC in 2009 during the Obama administration, said he is “greatly concerned” that Abraham’s appointment will serve as an extension of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s well-established distrust of vaccines
“Dr. Abraham, rather than being someone who will push back on that, I think, will further the secretary’s agenda,” said Besser, a pediatrician and president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “I would expect that Dr. Abraham will have a lot of authority over what takes place within the agency.”
Abraham has been vocal in his opposition of Covid vaccines. In September, he told the Shreveport Times that he “sees Covid vaccine injuries every day.” There was no explanation of the kind of injuries he was referring to
In February, The Associated Press reported that Abraham directed the state Health Department, in an internal memo, to “no longer promote mass vaccination” through media campaigns like those for flu shots typically seen at the beginning of the winter respiratory virus season. The AP obtained the memo signed by Abraham
Abraham’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment
While flu activity is low so far this season, according to theCDC’s latest flu report, Louisiana is reporting the highest levels of flu-like illnesses in the country
On X, Abraham touted a drug called leucovorin as a promising treatment for some children with autism. There is limited evidence that it could help a small number of children, but large studies suggesting broad benefits are lacking
As a Republican candidate for governor in 2019, Abraham releasedTV ads taking aim at abortion rights and the transgender community
