The Download: the CDC's vaccine chaos

This week has been an eventful one for America's public health agency. Two former leaders of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained why they suddenly departed in a Senate hearing. They also described how CDC employees are being instructed to turn their backs on scientific evidence. They painted a picture of a health agency in turmoil--and at risk of harming the people it is meant to serve. And, just hours afterwards, a panel of CDC advisers voted to stop recommending the MMRV vaccine for children under four. This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review's weekly biotech newsletter.