CDC chief Brenda Fitzgerald resigns amid reports she bought tobacco stocks
Her tenure helming the CDC just went up in smoke.
Brenda Fitzgerald, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stepped down Wednesday amid reports she traded tobacco stocks shortly after taking over the agency.
A representative for newly sworn-in Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar confirmed the departure to CNBC.
“This morning Secretary Azar accepted Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald's resignation as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the representative said.
Fitzgerald, an ob-gyn doctor by trade, purchased tobacco company shares a month after taking over the CDC last July, Politico reported Tuesday.
The news sparked uproar, particularly because the CDC is tasked with trying to get people to quit smoking.
Fitzgerald, formerly the Georgia Department of Public Health commissioner, was already under fire for older stock holdings some lawmakers believed compromised her leadership at the center.
