Facts About Frieden
Press conference attendees spread the word about Frieden’s being unfit
“Big brother won’t end AIDS! Just say no to Frieden!” chanted 40 AIDS, health and Latino advocates at a snowy press conference on the steps of City Hall Wednesday.The group had gathered to express opposition to the possible appointment of New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden as director of the CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although Frieden has been praised for some of his public health campaigns, the organizations that held the press conference believe that his coercive public health techniques and lack of interest in community involvement disqualify him for the CDC post.
“A number of advocacy groups that had worked with the Bloomberg administration prior to Commissioner Frieden became disengaged from the process, leading to a real deterioration of the services that are available in the city,” said Bailey House CEO Gina Quattrochi, who spoke at the press conference. “We don’t see him being able to take leadership of the CDC in the way that the country needs now. We’re working under the theme of hope and change, and community participation. That’s what this campaign and this election was all about. So we want to see someone leading the CDC who will participate in the communities affected throughout the nation.”
The coalition of community-based organizations at the press conference held up signs that said “Obama: Say No To Frieden”; “Coercion Does Not Equal Health Care” and “Big Brother Won’t End AIDS”, and included representatives from Bailey House, Housing Works, New York City AIDS Housing Network, Bronx AIDS Services, Center for HIV Law and Policy, Family Health Project, Hispanic AIDS Forum, Inc., HIV Law Project, Lower East Side Harm Reduction, Positive Health Project, and New York Association on HIV Over Fifty.
The press conference spread the word nationwide that Frieden would be bad for the nation’s health. It was covered by NY1 Noticias , the New York Times, the Associated Press and others.
Record of Coercion
Other groups privately expressed opposition to Frieden but were worried about the repercussions from Frieden and the New York City Health Department.
“There are a lot of other people who are opposed who aren’t standing out here today because they receive funding from the NYC Department of Health and don’t want to risk losing their funding,” said Housing Works President and CEO Charles King, who spoke at the press conference. “We’re willing to take the risk because we believe this is not the type of change we need at the CDC.”
King spoke about Frieden’s attempt to eliminate informed consent for HIV testing, which would eliminate written consent and pre-and post-test counseling from HIV tests.
Felicia Carroll, an HIV-positive woman who serves on New York City’s Ryan White planning council and attended the press conference, agreed. Carroll worries about the repercussions Frieden’s policies would have on a federal level. “It’s scary to think of someone who wants to test people without giving them counseling rising to a position at the federal level,” Carroll said.
King also criticized Frieden’s attempt to exert control over the treatment of people living with HIV through mandatory reporting of health outcomes.
Frieden only backed down on his Big Brother HIV policies after strong opposition from the State Legislature. Frieden was more successful with people with diabetes. Frieden and the New York City Health Department now have access to all of their medical information, and can contact the people whenever they see fit. “This intrudes into the relationship between an individual patient and his or her physician,” King said.
King also criticized Frieden’s blunder in 2005, when he prematurely hyped the discovery of an HIV “superbug” that turned out not to be the highly multi-resistant strain that was feared. “This is an example of someone who is willing to misuse information and prematurely take what is ostensibly science to carry out a very dogmatic command-and-control type of public health,” King said. “That is the reason why, although we believe Dr. Frieden has done lots of good things about AIDS and HIV in New York, we don’t believe he’s the appropriate person for the director of the CDC position.”
Preemptive strike
Frieden’s nomination is by no means a done deal. Dr. Richard Besser is currently serving as CDC’s interim director, and appointing a permanent successor to Julie Gerberding will likely be delayed now that Sen. Tom Daschle’s tax trouble leaves the Health and Human Services secretary position unfilled. The HHS secretary appoints the head of the CDC.
Other hot CDC prospects include Dr. Helene Gayle, a former CDC administrator now with CARE International; Dr. Margaret Hamburg, a former Health and Human Services official now with the Global Health and Security Initiative; and Dr. James Marks, a former CDC administrator now at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The New York City Department of Health defended Frieden’s record and wouldn’t say if he was going anywhere. The DOH issued the same statement to the New York Times and the Update: “Dr. Frieden loves his job at the New York City Health Department and is looking forward to helping Mayor Bloomberg make New York City an even healthier place for years to come.”
Posted on February 6, 2009 at 1:01 am
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