Frumkin reassigned in CDC shakeup
BY Ken Edelstein • January 23, 2010
Prominent Atlanta environmental health expert Howard Frumkin was reassigned last week to a position within the CDC “with less authority, a smaller staff and a lower budget,” according to the investigative website ProPublica.
A September 2008 congressional commiettee report detailed, which was covered extensively by ProPublica, detailed Frumkin’s role in a controversy over a flawed CDC study of formaldehyde levels in the trailers occupied by Hurricane Katrina refugees. As director of the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances for Disease Registry, Frumkin allegedly failed to respond quickly to reports that the study had understated the danger individuals faced from living in the trailers. The report also raised the question of whether Frumkin had participated in “retribution” against an agency whistleblower.
At the same time, the report acknowledged that the studies flaws occurred before Frumkin actually directed the agency.
Dr. Howard Frumkin
A CDC spokesman said this week that Frumkin’s transfer had nothing to do with the controversy and that it wasn’t a demotion but was:
rather a change of function and responsibilities that the CDC’s director, Dr. Thomas Frieden, said would benefit both the agency and Dr. Frumkin, who is a recognized expert on climate change. But Frumkin’s authority has been sharply reduced, even though his salary won’t change. Previously, he oversaw two departments with a combined budget of about $264 million and 746 full-time employees. Now he will be an assistant to the director of a new program that has a budget of about $7.5 million, five full-time employees and five contractors, two of whom are part time.
Frumkin — a physician and epidemiologist — wouldn’t comment to ProPublica. But he is scheduled to play a highly public role in an Atlanta event this spring, when he serves as honorary chairman at the Congress for New Urbanism.
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