Former CDC Director’s Net Worth Estimated at $13.5 Million
Published February 19, 2020 | Opinion
Julie Gerberding, MD, who served as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2002 to 2009,1 2 and joined Merck & Co. as president of Merck Vaccines division in January 2010,3 4 recently
sold 102,073 shares of her Merck stock for approximately $$9.119
million. This represented just under half of her shares in the company.5 6 7
Following the transaction, which was completed on Jan. 13, 2020, Dr. Gerberding still owns 106,099
shares of Merck stock worth about $9.478 million.7
Dr. Gerberding, who has been Merck’s executive vice president and chief patient officer for strategic communications, global public policy and population health of Merck since July 2016, also serves on the Board of Directors of health information technology firm Cerner Corporation.8
On Aug. 22, 2019, Dr. Gerberding sold $569,389 worth of shares in Cerner. Prior to that, she sold $1.9 million in Merck stock on Nov. 7, 2018, $594,930 of Merck stock on May 15, 2018, $5.6 million in Merck stock on Nov. 7, 2016 and $2.3 million in Merck stock on May 8, 2015.9 10
Dr. Gerberding has been estimated to earn about $2.5 million a year as an executive at Merck.11 12 Her net worth has been pegged at $13.5 million or more.13 Not bad for someone who earned an annual salary of $207,000 as the head of the CDC at little over a decade ago14—a period during which Merck produced 14 of the 17 vaccines now recommended for children by the CDC and nine of the 10 vaccines recommended by the agency for adults.15
It is this extremely lucrative relationship with a company that made so many vaccines recommended by an agency Dr. Gerberding oversaw for so long that has led to concern about the undue influence of Merck and other pharmaceutical companies on the CDC. The revolving door that exists between the pharmaceutical industry and federal agencies with legal responsibility for overseeing vaccine research, development, licensing, policymaking and promotion, as well as providing oversight on vaccine safety, has been the subject of much discussion by consumer watchdog over the past four decades.16
If a CDC director can expect to leave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), walk through the revolving door and within a year land a job with a pharmaceutical company earning 10 times the government salary plus get generous stock options and become a multi-millionaire, then it is reasonable to question the integrity of the decision-making process of high ranking employees at the CDC. It is also reasonable for the public to call for an end to the revolving door between HHS and industry.
Referenc
Following the transaction, which was completed on Jan. 13, 2020, Dr. Gerberding still owns 106,099
shares of Merck stock worth about $9.478 million.7
Dr. Gerberding, who has been Merck’s executive vice president and chief patient officer for strategic communications, global public policy and population health of Merck since July 2016, also serves on the Board of Directors of health information technology firm Cerner Corporation.8
On Aug. 22, 2019, Dr. Gerberding sold $569,389 worth of shares in Cerner. Prior to that, she sold $1.9 million in Merck stock on Nov. 7, 2018, $594,930 of Merck stock on May 15, 2018, $5.6 million in Merck stock on Nov. 7, 2016 and $2.3 million in Merck stock on May 8, 2015.9 10
Dr. Gerberding has been estimated to earn about $2.5 million a year as an executive at Merck.11 12 Her net worth has been pegged at $13.5 million or more.13 Not bad for someone who earned an annual salary of $207,000 as the head of the CDC at little over a decade ago14—a period during which Merck produced 14 of the 17 vaccines now recommended for children by the CDC and nine of the 10 vaccines recommended by the agency for adults.15
It is this extremely lucrative relationship with a company that made so many vaccines recommended by an agency Dr. Gerberding oversaw for so long that has led to concern about the undue influence of Merck and other pharmaceutical companies on the CDC. The revolving door that exists between the pharmaceutical industry and federal agencies with legal responsibility for overseeing vaccine research, development, licensing, policymaking and promotion, as well as providing oversight on vaccine safety, has been the subject of much discussion by consumer watchdog over the past four decades.16
If a CDC director can expect to leave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), walk through the revolving door and within a year land a job with a pharmaceutical company earning 10 times the government salary plus get generous stock options and become a multi-millionaire, then it is reasonable to question the integrity of the decision-making process of high ranking employees at the CDC. It is also reasonable for the public to call for an end to the revolving door between HHS and industry.
Referenc
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