Jan 31, 2018 - Health

CDC director resigns

Brenda Fitzgerald, the embattled director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has resigned. Fitzgerald has consistently faced questions about financial conflicts of interest, and those questions intensified yesterday after Politico reported that she had purchased stock in tobacco companies after taking the helm at the country's top public health agency.

Why it matters: Fitzgerald is the second high-profile health official to step down in roughly the first year of the Trump administration. Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price resigned last year over his use of private jets.

Anne Schuchat, the CDC's principal deputy director, is filling in as acting director while the administration searches for a permanent replacement.

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