The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, resigned her post today, a day after it was revealed she purchased stock in tobacco companies soon after accepting her position. The investments are considered a conflict of interest.
Fitzgerald reportedly purchased stock in tobacco companies one month after stepping into her role at the CDC. She reportedly bought tens of thousands of dollars in stock in at least a dozen companies. One of which was Japan Tobacco, one of the largest tobacco companies in the world.
Additional financial interests of Fitzgerald’s were already under scrutiny. Fitzgerald has also invested in large pharmaceutical companies Merck and Bayer, as well as health insurance giant Humana.
“Dr. Fitzgerald owns certain complex financial interests that have imposed a broad recusal limiting her ability to complete all of her duties as the CDC Director. Due to the nature of these financial interests, Dr. Fitzgerald could not divest from them in a definitive time period,” a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services read Wednesday.
Fitzgerald’s resignation was accepted this morning by current Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azur.