Thoughts for the Day, Labor Day, 2025: Make Cancer Great Again

I have been sitting on this for five days

I started working in healthcare over fifty years ago. During that time, I have seen tremendous advances which have contributed to our health, our well-being and our economy. The advances are too many to mention.

At the University of Michigan Health System, I was proud to work with some of the great physician/scientists of our time. I trusted the physicians with not only my healthcare, but the healthcare of Leah, and my two children, Chris and Katy. Each of my four grandchildren were born there.

As a member of the health system’s malpractice committee for nearly 20 years, I learned about the great and not so great aspects of practicing medicine. I learned to trust doctors, researchers, and scientists at U of M. I also learned about the importance of the CDC and how its guidelines contributed to the health of our nation. I learned to trust their recommendations, which meant I got every immunization available to me. I still do. So did Chris and Katy.

I remember when the first concerns about the measles vaccine causing autism started to surface. I heard one of our renowned pediatric physicians make a passion plea about the importance of the measles vaccine for our preschoolers to get their measle shots. He debunked the concerns linking autism to the measles vaccine. The Mott Golf Classic helped fund some of the physician’s research as a result.

It is with this background that I express my concern about the firing of Susan Monarez as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after she refused to resign amid pressure to change vaccine policy, which sparked the resignation of other senior CDC officials and a showdown over whether she could be removed. I want to share excerpts from two articles which express my concerns about Secretary Kennedy and his version of Make America Healthy Again

From the Washington Post-Hours after the Department of Health and Human Services announced early Wednesday evening that Monarez was no longer the director, her lawyers responded with a fiery statement saying she had not resigned or been fired. They accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of “weaponizing public health for political gain” and “putting millions of American lives at risk” by purging health officials from government.

“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda,” the lawyers, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell, wrote in a statement. “For that reason, she has been targeted.”

Wednesday’s shake-ups — which include the resignation of the agency’s chief medical officer, the director of its infectious-disease center and other key officials — add to the tumult at the nation’s premier public health agency. Kennedy and his allies have long criticized the CDC as too deferential to the pharmaceutical industry and vaccine makers. As the nation’s top health official, Kennedy has upended vaccine policies, including on Wednesday narrowing approval of coronavirus vaccines to high-risk groups, and he has taken steps that medical experts worry are undermining the nation’s public health response.

Monarez was pressed for days by Kennedy, administration lawyers and other officials over whether she would support rescinding certain approvals for coronavirus vaccines, according to two people with knowledge of those conversations. Kennedy, who has a long history of anti-vaccine advocacy, and other officials questioned Monarez on Monday on whether she was aligned with the administration’s efforts to change vaccine policy, the people said. Kennedy and one of his top advisers, Stefanie Spear, also pushed Monarez to fire her senior staff by the end of this week, according to an administration official and another person with direct knowledge of that conversation. Spear did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Monarez, who was a longtime federal government scientist before Trump nominated her to lead the CDC, declined to commit to support changing coronavirus vaccine policy without consulting her advisers, two people said. That prompted Kennedy to urge her to resign for “not supporting President Trump’s agenda,” one of the people said.

And there is this from Elliot Kirschner

The body politic is being racked by contagious forces—corruption, cruelty, and autocracy. And our own bodies are under siege as well, growing sicker under this regime’s unrelenting assault on public health, science, and the environment.

Institutions built over decades of bipartisan support—to combat infectious disease, ensure workplace safety, and safeguard our food and medicines—are being gutted in an orgy of reckless ideology….

I hear from scientists, doctors, and others who work tirelessly to generate the knowledge that helps us unlock nature’s mysteries and save lives, and they speak of an unrelenting attack on one of humanity’s most basic instincts—the drive to heal the sick…. The immorality, ignorance, and terror are on a scale that defies belief.

The coordinated resignations of senior scientists at the CDC, in protest of Kennedy’s deranged, politicized anti-vaccine crusade, briefly captured the news cycle. But they also highlighted the unrelenting failure of both the press and, frankly, the Democratic Party to convey what this assault on science means for the lives of the American people. (which is why I am focusing today’s blog on this subject)

…This regime is literally halting promising cancer treatments and gutting the funding needed to continue progress against many horrific diseases. There should be a widespread call to action built around a simple, brutal truth: Donald Trump wants to “Make Cancer Great Again.” Imagine picket lines outside hospitals in red and blue states alike—so that families driving loved ones to chemotherapy are confronted with the reality that the death cult in Washington is content to see their father, sister, or child die.

I am reading Anthony Fauci’s memoir, and as he retraces his career, I’m reminded of the searing pain of the AIDS crisis—a time of unimaginable loss and hopelessness—the paralyzing fear of bioterrorism after 9/11, with the chilling prospect of smallpox’s return, and, ultimately, the global devastation and dislocation of COVID-19. Each was a threat that could only be confronted—and overcome—through science.

I think of how Dr. Fauci served presidents from both parties, and how his expertise—and science more broadly—were recognized as essential to national survival. Budgets for the NIH were expanded. The CDC stood as a crowning achievement of American public health.

To be sure, there were always turf battles and hard choices, and politicians often failed to lead when it mattered most. Yet there was still a prevailing recognition that people with MDs and PhDs—those who devoted their lives to unlocking the mysteries of life and the universe—had a vital role in shaping national policy, especially when it came to science and public health.

With this history, it might be tempting to dismiss our current madness as unprecedented—a bolt from the blue, unique to the boundless malevolence of today’s ruling cabal. But that would be a mistake.

For decades, climate science has been politicized—along with the death and destruction denial has unleashed. That paved the way for attacks on other areas of scientific consensus, like vaccines. The assault on knowledge and truth has long been the playbook of those determined to dismantle any check on their power.

Industry has been complicit. The press too often unwilling or unable to call out the lies. Politicians—many who know better—have chosen cowardice. These are the same leaders who would do anything to save a stricken family member, or quietly vaccinate their own children, while publicly stoking distrust in the very tools of survival.

The hypocrisy is glaring—and deadly. It also presents an opening for a political movement that could begin to swing the pendulum back toward sanity…, who is rooting for cancer? Who wants deadly childhood diseases to come roaring back?

…This regime and all who support it must be confronted with the facts. Every interview with a politician who voted to confirm…. (Kennedy and his cronies) should begin with the question: why? Every cancer patient should know the next round of life-saving drugs is being stolen from them by people in Washington who don’t want them developed. Every parent should know their children are more likely to become gravely ill—or even die.

Make Cancer Great Again. Somehow I doubt that’s a slogan any politician wants chanted outside their office—or forced on them in an interview.

But sometimes the truth hurts. And in this case, it might even get you killed.

*****************************************************************************************************

Let’s Talk About Some Sports

With the Tigers taking two of three from the Kansas City Royals over the weekend, the Tigers entered today with a 9 and ½ game lead over the Royals with 24 games left in the season. ESPN gives the Tigers a 99.9% chance to make the playoffs.

Tiger ace Tarik Skubal all but wrapped up the 2025 American League Cy Young Award as the best pitcher. He set a Tiger record with his 11^th scoreless start of at least six innings in a single season. He broke Denny McClains record that stood since 1969 when McClain won the second of his back-to-back Cy Young Awards. If Skubal wins the award this year, he will match McClain with back-to-back awards.

Michigan freshman QB Bryce Underwood made his much anticipated first start of the year. Underwood, who turned 18 just two weeks ago, looked better than his hype as he showed a strong accurate arm who could throw the soft touch pass when needed. His passing yards of more than 250 yards was better than U of M had in their 13 games last year. Underwood gave himself a C+ for his performance. If that was a C+, I cannot wait to see what an A game looks like. See my Video of the Day

MSU had a strong start but looked sluggish in the second half as they beat Western Michigan. It was a good win to build on, but they have many weaknesses to address, especially in their kicking game.

In the Game of the Week, the defending national champion Buckeyes beat the pre-season number one Texas Longhorns 14-7 in a game that featured two highly touted inexperienced quarterbacks against two of the best defenses in the country. Ohio State’s defense overwhelmed Texas for most of the game. This defense could carry the Buckeyes to back-to-back national championships if the offense comes around.

*********************************************************************************************************

Project 2026/2028

Chapter 6: Access to Healthcare will appear in Wednesday’s blog. Due to the Labor Day holiday and the above concerns about the CDC, I do not want to overwhelm my subscribers with too much healthcare.

Orchid of the Day: Leah, who took advantage of the gorgeous weather and kayaked for three miles this morning. In the afternoon Leah and I completed a 19-mile bike ride. She is a beast.

Quote of the Day: In his resignation letter today, Director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Demetre Daskalakis set an example for those refusing to be cowed. “The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning,” he wrote. “My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud.”

Onion of the Day: Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for trying to Make Cancer Great Again

Question of the Day: Are you concerned as much as I am about what Robert Kennedy is doing to the future health of our citizens?

Lyrics of the Day: I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told.
I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles.
Such are promises. All lies and jest.
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest

If you think you know the song and the artist, send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for August 27: In the air tonight, by Phil Collins

Video of the Day: Michigan QB Bryce Underwood makes debut vs. New Mexico | COLLEGE FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS | NBC Sports

Feel free to share my blog with others. To receive the blog in your email, please use the subscribe button or send an email to me at thomasdbiggs@gmail.com and I will start the process for you.