Dr. Susan P. Monarez Confirmed As CDC Director

And she's gone:

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-cdc-chief-fired-after-weeks-role-challenges-ouster-four-top-officials-resign-2025-08-28/

US CDC chief fired after weeks in role, challenges ouster as four top officials resign
By Ahmed Aboulenein, Dan Levine and Michael Erman - August 28, 2025

Summary

*    CDC Director Monarez challenges dismissal citing unscientific directives by HHS Secretary Kennedy
*    Four senior CDC officials resign over vaccine policy, misinformation, and public health weaponization
*    Resignations follow vaccine policy changes by Kennedy

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - (This Aug. 27 story has been refiled to correct a grammatical error in paragraph 3)
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez has been fired, the White House said on Wednesday, less than a month after being sworn in, and four senior officials have resigned amid growing tensions over vaccine policies and public health directives.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made sweeping changes to vaccine policies, including withdrawing federal recommendations for COVID shots for pregnant women and healthy children in May, and firing all members of the CDC's expert vaccine advisory panel in June whom he replaced with hand-picked advisers including fellow anti-vaccine activists.
One of the officials who quit said the CDC's vaccination recommendations were putting young Americans and pregnant women at risk.
White House spokesman Kush Desai late on Wednesday said Monarez was not "aligned with the President's agenda of Making America Healthy Again".

Since she had "refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC," Desai said.

Monarez's attorneys, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe David Lowell, denied she had resigned or had been fired, adding in a statement that "as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign."

Monarez's attorneys accused Kennedy of targeting her for refusing to support "unscientific directives" and dismiss health experts.
CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry and National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Demetre Daskalakis have resigned, Houry told Reuters. They cited a rise in health misinformation especially on vaccines, attacks on science, the weaponization of public health, and attempts to cut the agency's budget and influence in their resignation letters, reviewed by Reuters.

National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director Daniel Jernigan also stepped down, days after the agency reported the first U.S. human case of screwworm linked to an ongoing outbreak in Central America. Jen Layden, Director of the CDC Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology, has also resigned, NBC News reported.

"Recently, the overstating of risks and the rise of misinformation have cost lives, as demonstrated by the highest number of U.S. measles cases in 30 years and the violent attack on our agency," Houry wrote in her resignation.

Budget cuts proposed by President Donald Trump's administration and plans by Kennedy to reorganize the agency would harm its ability to address these challenges.

'ONGOING WEAPONIZATION'

The White House sought to cut the CDC's budget by almost $3.6 billion, leaving it with a $4 billion 2026 budget, and Kennedy announced a layoff plan earlier this year that cut 2,400 CDC employees, though some 700 were rehired.

Item 1 of 3 Susan Monarez, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo

"I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponizing of public health," Daskalakis wrote. He declined to comment for this story.

HHS did not provide a reason for Monarez's departure from the agency and did not address the resignations.
"Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people," a posting on the department's official X account said.

The CDC has faced mounting challenges under Kennedy’s leadership, including a shooting at its Atlanta headquarters earlier this month. The union representing CDC workers said the incident "compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured."

Fiona Havers, a former CDC official who resigned in June over vaccine policy, described the recent resignations as "devastating for the CDC," adding that the departing leaders acted as a "buffer between career CDC scientists and RFK Jr. and this administration's attacks on public health."

SWEEPING CHANGES

In a pointed resignation letter addressed to Houry and posted by Daskalakis on X Wednesday evening, Daskalakis said the CDC's vaccination recommendations were putting young Americans and pregnant women at risk and disparaged Kennedy's decision to fire the panel.

He said the health agency's policies would return America to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong survive, risking the well-being and security of the country.

Kennedy announced further changes to COVID vaccine eligibility on Wednesday.

Monarez, a federal government scientist, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 29 after Trump nominated her earlier in the year and was sworn in by Kennedy on July 31.

She was Trump's second nominee for the role after he withdrew his nomination in March of former Republican congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon, a Kennedy ally, just hours before his scheduled confirmation hearing.

Monarez's comments during her confirmation hearing, in which she said she has not seen evidence linking vaccines and autism, contrasted her with Kennedy, who has promoted the discredited claim of such a link.

Kennedy has launched a department-wide effort to investigate the causes of the condition and said on Wednesday there would be news soon on that front.

"We have announcements that are coming out in September on autism of changes that we are going to make that will dramatically impact the effects," he said during an event with Texas Governor Gregg Abbott.

Senator Cassidy, Big Pharma's representative from Louisiana, demanded substantial control of HHS to approve Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s nomination as Secretary.  Senator Cassidy nixed President Trump's first choice for CDC Administrator and demanded Monarez be appointed.  This is a direct usurpation of the President's Article II powers, but a usurpation with broad support from powerful political interests.

Monarez resigned after clashing with RFK, Jr., but evidently later withdrew her resignation after prompting by her Pharmabros.  This is another Trump Administration HR case which will wind up in the courts:

https://michiganadvance.com/2025/08/28/repub/us-senate-health-leaders-committee-question-cdc-tumult/

US Senate health committee leaders question CDC tumult
By Jennifer Shutt - August 28, 2025

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan leaders of a U.S. Senate committee dealing with health policy expressed alarm with the direction of the country’s top public health agencies after President Donald Trump fired the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other high-level officials resigned.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy — chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — posted on social media late Wednesday that the “high profile departures will require oversight by the HELP Committee.”

Cassidy separately called on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to indefinitely postpone its September meeting.

“Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September ACIP meeting,” Cassidy wrote in a statement. “These decisions directly impact children’s health and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted. If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership.”

Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, ranking member on the committee, called for a bipartisan investigation into the reasons Trump fired Susan Monarez as CDC director less than a month after she received Senate confirmation.

Sanders said that Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Monarez and the handful of high-ranking CDC officials who resigned this week should be able to testify publicly about what’s happening inside the agency.

“We need leaders at the CDC and HHS who are committed to improving public health and have the courage to stand up for science, not officials who have a history of spreading bogus conspiracy theories and disinformation,” Sanders wrote.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing that Trump had every right to fire Monarez and that he expects to pick a new nominee “very soon.”

“Her lawyers’ statement made it abundantly clear themselves that she was not aligned with the president’s mission to make America healthy again,” Leavitt said. “The secretary asked her to resign. She said she would and then she said she wouldn’t. So the president fired her, which he has every right to do.”

Kennedy is scheduled to testify before the Senate Finance Committee next week, that panel’s chairman, Idaho Republican Mike Crapo, announced Thursday.

Kennedy “has placed addressing the underlying causes of chronic diseases at the forefront of this Administration’s health care agenda,” Crapo wrote on X. “I look forward to learning more about @HHSGov’s Make America Healthy Again actions to date and plans moving forward.”

Cassidy key vote for RFK

Cassidy was an essential vote to confirm Kennedy as director of HHS, which oversees the CDC, though he expressed concerns throughout that process that Kennedy’s past statements about vaccines weren’t rooted in reputable medical research.

Cassidy said during a floor speech in February after voting to advance Kennedy’s nomination that Kennedy assured him he will protect “the public health benefit of vaccination.”

“If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed, I will use my authority of the Senate committee with oversight of HHS to rebuff any attempt to remove the public’s access to life-saving vaccines without ironclad causational scientific evidence that can be accepted and defended before the mainstream scientific community and before Congress,” Cassidy said at the time. “I will watch carefully for any effort to wrongly sow public fear about vaccines between confusing references of coincidence and anecdote.”

Senator Cassidy has prevailed in past Louisiana elections due to their former jungle primary system which strongly favored well funded candidates.  Louisiana no longer has a jungle primary system, so Senator Cassidy is unlikely to win next year's primary without massive increases in Big Pharma campaign contributions.

Dr. Susan P. Monarez appeared in front of the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) today.  Her testimony was mostly an attack on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. facilitated by Senator Cassidy of Louisiana and the Democrats.  Senator Cassidy forced Dr. Monarez on RFK, Jr. as a price of his confirmation.

The best bits were the exchange between Dr. Monarez and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky which was completely embargoed by the mainstream press.  Senator Paul just took Dr. Monarez apart.  Senators Cassidy and Paul are medical doctors.  Dr. Monarez holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

This Reuters report is about as good as it gets from the mainstream press:

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fired-cdc-director-says-kennedy-plans-change-childrens-vaccine-schedule-2025-09-17/

The Rand Paul - Susan Monarez exchange:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1968337596678893995

Fired CDC director says Kennedy plans to change children's vaccine schedule
By Ahmed Aboulenein, Leah Douglas and Bo Erickson - September 17, 2025

Summary

*    Monarez says Kennedy demanded pre-approval for vaccine decisions
*    Former CDC director appearing before Senate HELP Committee
*    Kennedy replaced vaccine advisers with anti-vaccine activists
*    Kennedy criticism grows after Monarez firing, CDC resignations

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told former CDC Director Susan Monarez two days before she was fired that the childhood vaccination schedule would change in September, Monarez told a Senate panel on Wednesday.
Kennedy asked her to commit to approving the changes before reviewing scientific evidence and said there is no evidence supporting the current schedule, Monarez said.

He also asked for blanket approval of the recommendations of the agency's vaccine advisory board and required her to seek her own political staff's approval for her policy and personnel decisions before ultimately ousting her, Monarez said.

President Donald Trump fired Monarez, who helmed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 29 days, on August 28 after clashing with Kennedy over vaccine policy. She told Senators that Kennedy told her he had spoken with the White House several times about having her removed.

A microbiologist and immunologist who has worked at various government agencies since 2006, Monarez was confirmed as CDC director on July 30, the first required to have Senate approval.

She is now at the nexus of a debate over the future of U.S. vaccination policy, in which Kennedy has pushed to scale back the use of vaccines and U.S. public health experts and medical doctors have called for him to resign, saying his policies will hurt Americans.

Criticism of Kennedy has intensified since Monarez's firing, which triggered the resignations of four CDC officials, citing anti-vaccine policies and misinformation he is pushing.

Some Republicans have also expressed concern, including Senator Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, who invited Monarez, as well as one of the officials who resigned, former Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, to the hearing.

Monarez positioned herself on Wednesday as supportive of the Trump administration's health policy priorities, like improving childhood health and the use of AI, but that she refused to compromise the scientific integrity of the agency's work.

Republicans questioned why Democrats supported Monarez after she was fired when they had all voted against her Senate confirmation in July. At least two Democrats on Wednesday apologized to Monarez for their lack of support and for questioning her independence.

Cassidy said in opening remarks that the committee had a responsibility to look at why someone Kennedy had described as having 'unimpeachable scientific credentials' was fired after 29 days.

KENNEDY SOUGHT PRE-APPROVAL

Monarez provided details of the exchange she had with Kennedy before she was fired. On August 25, Kennedy told Monarez that "the childhood vaccine schedule would be changing certainly in September," she said. Kennedy asked her to commit to approving changes to the vaccine schedule before reviewing scientific evidence, she said.

Kennedy also directed her to commit in advance to approve every committee recommendation, regardless of the scientific evidence, and to fire CDC officials responsible for vaccine policy, Monarez said. He also told her not to speak with U.S. Senators.

Monarez told the committee she had been open to changing the childhood vaccine schedule if there was supportive evidence, but would not commit to blanket approval. Kennedy told her that "there was no science or evidence associated with the childhood vaccine schedule" and that if she could not commit to signing off on the changes, that she needed to resign.

Kennedy denied during a September 4 Senate Finance Committee hearing that he ordered Monarez to pre-approve decisions.
The Department of Health and Human Services said any changes to the childhood vaccine schedule will be based on science, and that Monarez distorted her exchange with Kennedy.

"Susan Monarez was tasked with restoring the CDC to its core mission after decades of bureaucratic inertia, politicized science, and mission creep eroded its purpose and squandered public trust—and she refused to do it, and the President fired her," said an HHS spokesperson.

EXPERT ADVISERS FIRED

Two children's vaccines will be discussed on Thursday at a meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, now populated with 12 new handpicked members. Kennedy fired all previous 17 members in June.

Asked during the hearing how CDC staff were preparing for the upcoming meeting, Houry said there had not been any work group meetings apart from on COVID vaccines. Work groups are charged with gathering and ranking available data and making recommendations on how advisers should vote.

Cassidy told reporters after the hearing that should the committee recommend changes to the vaccine schedule, Americans should not have confidence in the decision.

The Hepatitis B shot, given at birth, has decreased the number of children with the disease from 20,000 per year to about 20, Cassidy added.

Kennedy has narrowed eligibility for COVID shots and cut funding for the development of new vaccines using the mRNA technology that was the basis of vaccines widely used during the pandemic.

ZeroHedge, a right-libertarian web site, posted much of the Senator Rand Paul - Dr. Susan Monarez interchange should you wish to avoid the video.  Lots of links, so you many find going directly to ZeroHedge less confusing.  I cannot duplicate their formatting:

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/rand-paul-wrecks-ousted-cdc-director-over-kids-vaccines

Rand Paul Wrecks Ousted CDC Director Over Kids' Vaccines
By Tyler Durden - September 19, 2025

In a much anticipated public appearance, Susan Monarez, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, attempted to defend her short tenure at the embattled public health agency.

Things did not go well for her from the start (via Camus on X):

Senator Dr. Roger Marshall delivered a stunning rebuke to the CDC, exposing them as the primary cause of vaccine hesitancy. He laid out the truth: by forcing unjustified COVID vaccines and an unnecessary Day-1 hepatitis vaccine on every American, the CDC has shattered public trust.

Their one-size-fits-all mandate is not science—it’s tyranny, forcing doctors to abandon their oaths and patients to abandon their doctors. Marshall champions medical freedom, praising the miracles of proven vaccines like Polio and MMR while condemning the CDC's corrupt, blanket mandates.

This is the philosophy of reason, the mission of the President, and the future that RFK Jr. fights for.

After Monarez got a few softball questions from Bernie Sanders and others, Senator Rand Paul stepped in with the tough ones. (Via Vigilant Fox)

He started with the basics - asking if the COVID vaccines actually stop transmission.

PAUL: “Does the COVID vaccine prevent transmission?”

MONAREZ: “The COVID vaccine can reduce viral load in individuals who are—”

PAUL: “Does it prevent transmission?”

MONAREZ: “When you have reduced viral load… you will have reduced transmission.”

PAUL: “But in other words, it DOESN’T prevent transmission. You can still transmit the virus if you’ve had the vaccine.”

Paul then turned to children. He asked Monarez if the COVID vaccine was indicated for kids.

She repeated the same line—that “it can” reduce hospitalization and death. But Paul wasn’t letting it slide.

PAUL: “Does the COVID vaccine reduce hospitalization for children under 18?”

MONAREZ: “It can.”

Paul fired back. “It doesn’t. The statistics are inconclusive. And the reason you can’t prove that it does is there’s so few people under 18 that go to the hospital. The numbers are extraordinarily small.”

When he pressed further about whether the vaccines reduce death in children, Monarez again answered, “It can.”

That’s when Paul shut it down. He pointed to the real risk children face—not COVID, but myocarditis.

“You find that there is a risk of myocarditis, a significant event [in young men and boys]. It’s somewhere between 6 and 8 in 10,000. But that’s much greater than the risk of hospitalization or death, which are not even measurable because they’re so small.”

From there, Paul moved on to the hepatitis B vaccine.

Monarez tried to pivot, but Paul wasn’t letting her off the hook. She couldn’t come up with a single argument in favor of giving Hep B on the first day of life, looking like a deer in headlights when Paul asked her the question.

Then, Paul gets to the root of the issue behind why Susan Monarez was let go from the CDC. (Via Vigilant Fox)

You could feel it…the moment everything changed.

It was about one thing: the childhood vaccine schedule.

And Senator Paul made it clear that this is the debate the public deserves to have.

Paul: “So you resisted firing people who have this idea that the COVID vaccine should be at six months. That’s what this is about. You didn’t resist firing the beautiful scientists that are career people and un-objective and unbiased.”

“You wouldn’t fire the people who are saying that we have to vaccinate our kids at six months of age. That’s who you refuse to fire.”

Monarez: “So that assertion, is not commensurate with the experience that I had with the individuals who are identified to be fired.”

Paul: “Did any of the people you refused to fire believe that we should change the vaccine schedule and no longer force six-month-old kids to take it?”

“Every one of them was adamant we should keep it at six months.”

Then Paul dropped a question that stopped the room cold:

“What is the medical reason to give a Hepatitis B vaccine to a newborn whose mom has no hepatitis?”

Monarez: “So none of the discussion points that you just brought up were ever…”

Paul: “That’s changing the childhood schedule.”

“This is the debate over changing the childhood schedule. The Hepatitis B vaccine on the schedule is given to newborns.”

“What is the medical scientific reason and proof for giving a newborn a Hepatitis B vaccine? If the mom is Hep B negative?”

Monarez: “I want to go back to the assertion…”

Paul: “What is the medical reason for giving a Hepatitis B vaccine to newborn?”

“See, everybody’s like blithely going along. We can’t change the childhood and you’re somehow terrible if you want to change the childhood, we should be discussing what is the childhood vaccine schedule.”

“The burden should be on you. You want to make all the kids take this. The burden is upon you and the people you wouldn’t fire to prove to us that we need to give our six-month-old a COVID vaccine, and that we need to give our one-day-old a Hepatitis B vaccine.”

“That’s what the debate ought to be about, not whether all vaccines are good or whether we live in Alice in Wonderland.”

Watch the entire exchange here and judge her level of smugness for yourself...

Paul wasn't alone in his destruction of Monarez' credibility as Senator Markwayne Mullin exposing her for the dishonest operative she is.

Her story completely unravels (via Camus on X)

Here’s the brutal takedown:

1/ Mullin establishes the foundational truth: She served at the will of the President. His power to remove her is absolute, rooted in the Constitution. She AGREES. This isn't about the "why" of her firing—it's about her credibility afterward.

2/ The timeline of her legal counsel becomes the first major crack. When did she first SEEK counsel, not just retain it? She suddenly "can't recall." Mullin doesn't buy it: "Maybe you should recall them, because I think you might have an honesty issue here that we want to point out."

3/ She claims she spoke to attorneys "on or before the day I was fired." A classic non-answer. Mullin pounces, forcing her to admit she retained them the very first time she spoke to them. An incredibly unusual and rushed move for a high-level official.

4/ Then, the time of the firing: A late-night email. Mullin’s killer question: "So you got all the attorneys late at night? You got hold of attorneys after business hours to retain them?" Her response? The familiar "I don't recall." Mullin: "I think you do."

5/ The Senator highlights the absurdity: "It wasn't that long ago, and I think I could recall when I hired an attorney." The evasion is blatant. The pattern of deception is clear.

6/ Next, she's caught in another web regarding removing political appointees from her floor. She plays dumb, claiming she doesn't understand the question. Mullin calls her out: "This isn't hard. You talk in circles and I just want an answer, because you know."

7/ The FINAL BLOW: The "trust" conversation with the Secretary. She claims the Secretary said he "could not trust" her. Mullin reveals the truth: "That isn't how that conversation went. And you know that, don't you?" He indicates the meeting was recorded, catching her in a lie.

8/ Mullin’s closing is a masterpiece. He compares her to his children, stating the core principle of truth: "The minute I can't tell you're being honest with me, I can't trust you. And then on, everything you say is questioned."

This was a surgical dissection of a witness who believed she could obfuscate and mislead under oath. Senator Mullin exposed a calculated narrative built on a foundation of sand.

This is why oversight matters. This is accountability.

Our message to her is simple: ...never go full smug-tard!

The Daily Beast now tells us why Senator Cassidy's saboteur in HHS was fired:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rfks-own-appointee-tried-to-reverse-his-policies-from-inside/

RFK’s Own Appointee Tried to Reverse His Policies From Inside
DOUBLE AGENT
The since-fired CDC head seemingly always had her own agenda.
By Laura Esposito - December 3, 2025

Susan Monarez, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked CDC appointee, was privately assuring health officials that she would reverse her own boss’s directives, according to agency staffers.

A New York Magazine report published Tuesday revealed that the since-fired Monarez urged the CDC’s former chief medical officer, Debra Houry, not to resign after Kennedy, 71, fired all the vaccine experts at the agency.

“Please wait…When I come, I will make changes,” Monarez reportedly promised Houry.

Monarez, a microbiologist who became the first non-physician to lead the agency in its history, made headlines after she was ousted by the health secretary in August—just 29 days after her shaky Senate confirmation, which passed without a single Democrat’s support.

The report, which details the chaos that has engulfed the CDC since Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist with no science background, was appointed by Donald Trump, shows that even before she formally assumed the role, Monarez’s allegiance lay not with Kennedy but with fact. The article was compiled from the firsthand accounts of 16 former and current health officials.

Monarez—referred to in the article only as Kennedy’s “political appointee”—alleged that the health secretary told her that CDC staffers were “horrible people who were killing children,” and directed her to “fire staffers until she achieved total compliance with his demands” —something she was unwilling to do.

She later showed Houry an “email showing a new procedure wherein [she] needed approval [from Kennedy] to make any policy or staffing change,” according to the outlet.

Houry called her back and said: “Well, that’s not gonna f–king work. You’ve been cut out.”

Monarez has said that Kennedy then issued her an ultimatum: obey or resign. Just 29 days after her Senate confirmation, she was ousted. Houry quickly followed her out the door.

Before she was confirmed, Monarez was lauded by Kennedy as having “unimpeachable scientific credentials,” and he expressed his “full confidence in her.”

For her part, Monarez believes Kennedy was pressuring her to “compromise science”—and, in doing so, putting children’s lives at risk, according to an essay she penned for the Rupert Murdoch owned-Wall Street Journal in September.

“Parents deserve a CDC they can trust to put children above politics, evidence above ideology and facts above fear,” she wrote. “I was fired for holding that line.”

New York Magazine’s account of Kennedy’s tenure arrives the same week as Olivia Nuzzi—who Kennedy reportedly had a fling with—released her salacious memoir American Canto.

Nuzzi, 32, allegedly sparked a romantic relationship with the married health secretary after interviewing him for New York Magazine in 2023.

In the book, Nuzzi claims their relationship “never turned physical,” but that they had phone sex, shared intimate photos, and said they loved each other. Kennedy, who has been married to actress Cheryl Hines since 2014, denies having an affair.

Nuzzi also casually drops information that would have been useful before Kennedy became the nation’s health chief—such as his poor reactions “in crisis,” his tendency to screech and lose his temper, and that he was doing psychedelic drugs despite being a “sober” recovering heroin addict.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.