Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham — a vocal supporter of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement and a harsh critic of Covid shots — has been named principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the appointment to NBC News, though it hadn’t been made public as of Tuesday afternoon.
The principal deputy director at the CDC is a high-level appointment. As second in command, Abraham would be in a position to act as a key adviser on a variety of public health issues.
A three-term Louisiana congressman, Abraham practiced for 10 years as a veterinarian before going to medical school. According to his biography on the Louisiana Department of Health website, Abraham was a “practicing family medicine physician” when he was appointed as state surgeon general in 2024. He described himself as a “country doctor” in an essay published in April.
While Abraham is licensed to practice medicine in Louisiana, the Louisiana Illustrator reported in February that he did not appear to be board-certified in the specialty of family medicine. A search for Abraham on the American Board of Family Medicine’s website yielded no results. A separate search on the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiner’s site lists Abraham as a general practitioner but not a family medicine doctor. (Board certification isn’t required to practice any particular specialty, but it’s viewed as an extra layer to ensure a doctor’s credentials, experience and expertise, according to the American Board of Physician Specialties.)
Abraham’s new position makes him the most senior scientist at CDC. The current acting director, Jim O’Neill, is not a medical doctor.
Dr. Richard Besser, who served as an acting director of the CDC in 2009 under the Obama administration, said he is “greatly concerned” that Abraham’s appointment will serve as an extension of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s well-established distrust of vaccines.
“Dr. Abraham, rather than being someone who will push back on that, I think, will further the Secretary’s agenda,” said Besser, a pediatrician and president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said. “I would expect that Dr. Abraham will have a lot of authority over what takes place within the agency.”
Abraham has been vocal in his opposition of Covid vaccines. In September, he told the Shreveport Times that he “sees Covid vaccine injuries every day.” There was no explanation of the kind of injuries he was referring to.
In February, The Associated Press reported that Abraham directed the Louisiana Department of Health, in an internal memo, to “no longer promote mass vaccination” through media campaigns like those for flu shots typically seen at the beginning of the winter respiratory virus season. The AP obtained the memo signed by Abraham.
Abraham’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While flu activity is low so far this season, according to the CDC’s latest flu report, Louisiana is reporting the highest levels of flu-like illnesses in the country.
In the past year, with Abraham at the helm, the state’s Department of Health waited several months after two babies died of whooping cough before formally alerting the public about a rise in cases across the state.
On X, Abraham touted a drug called leucovorin as a promising treatment for some children with autism. There is limited evidence that it could help a small number of children, but large studies suggesting broad benefits are lacking.
As a Republican candidate for governor for Louisiana in 2019, Abraham released TV ads taking aim at abortion rights and the transgender community.
Pilar Melendez contributed.
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