The recent dismissal of the CDC’s director by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with support from President Trump, sparked national debate. In response, several states and professional medical groups indicated plans to issue their own vaccine guidelines, departing from those traditionally issued by the CDC. Last month’s poll explored how these developments might affect public trust and influence patient decision-making. Here are the results:

My thoughts: Given that the readers of Monthly Musings tend to be knowledgeable about healthcare, I wasn’t surprised to see how many respondents have lost confidence in the CDC. What’s striking is how fast people shifted toward professional societies like the American Academy of Pediatrics and independent public health experts.

In just the past few weeks, after posing these questions, we’ve seen an even greater escalation of misinformation: misleading claims about Tylenol’s safety during pregnancy, the promotion of unproven autism treatments and renewed fearmongering about vaccines. These developments are clearly accelerating the public’s search for alternative sources of medical guidance.

For those who want to better understand the confusion and controversy in Washington, I unpack many of these developments in the latest episode of Medicine: The Truth.