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CDC Adviser Arrested for Urinal Incident

Monday, January 22, 2007

(01-22) 14:53 PST ATLANTA (AP) --

A prominent public health expert who is a top adviser to federal health agencies was arrested on suspicion of public indecency in an airport men's room. Dr. Hugh H. Tilson, 67, was arrested Jan. 16 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after a plainclothes police officer said he saw Tilson masturbating at a urinal while watching other men urinate.

Tilson, a part-time faculty member at the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health, has advised the government and industry on health issues and co-authored an influential 1988 report on the future of public health in the U.S. Tilson recently co-chaired a task force advising the Atlanta-based federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on setting agency priorities and goals. He was visiting Atlanta last week for a senior leadership retreat with CDC Director Julie Gerberding and others. CDC spokesman Glen Nowak said Monday that agency officials had just learned of Tilson's arrest. The agency had no comment "because it's a law enforcement matter," he said.

Tilson could not immediately be reached for comment at his UNC office or Raleigh, N.C., home, or through his university e-mail. UNC officials issued a statement that clarified that Tilson is not a classroom instructor. "The university takes the charges seriously. We think it is important to let the Georgia judicial system resolve the case," the statement said. Public indecency is a city code violation, which is considered of less consequence than a misdemeanor, according to a police report. Tilson posted a $500 bond and was released, and is to return to Atlanta next month for a court appearance.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/22/national/a141510S46.DTL

Sick Idea: CDC Hands Out Disease Trading Cards

POSTED: 2:58 pm EDT June 27, 2007
UPDATED: 4:37 pm EDT June 27, 2007

ATLANTA -- A dead zebra on a card labeled "anthrax".

A close-up of an oozing ulcer.

They might not replace baseball trading cards as a hobby, but the Centers for Disease Control says sick trading cards are amazingly popular. It's CDC's way of getting middle school kids interested in science and health.

The CDC gives the cards away for free at its visitor center, when the agency can keep them in stock. The sick cards disappear faster than a case of the 24 hour flu. The CDC said as it developed the idea, it was careful not to be too graphic. "We changed images to make sure they weren't scary for kids", said Judy Gantt, the director of the CDC's Global Health Oddysey.

What was scarier than the dead zebra on the anthrax card?

"The picture before the zebra was a woman who had anthrax on her eye," said Gantt. "She basically lost her eye from anthrax. It was pretty gory." Right now the cards are out of stock, but you can download the pictures for free by clicking here. What's next for this truly sick idea? Foodborne illness trading cards are set to come out later this summer.

Here's the link to the cards about vaccines
http://www.cdc. <http://www.cdc.gov/gcc/exhibit/cards2.htm>
gov/gcc/exhibit/cards2.htm
 

Congress Scrutinizes Spending At CDC
 

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2007

(CBS) The Center for Disease Control’s main mission is to prevent disease, and the agency has been credited with some terrific strides in public health. But a startling analysis from Congress says the CDC is squandering hundreds of millions of your tax dollars in ways many find hard to believe, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

To talk about fat in the CDC budget, you can start 2,000 miles away in Hollywood, where CDC pays a liaison to help TV dramas and soap operas write accurate medical plots. The service is free of charge to Tinseltown moguls, through the generosity of $1.7 million of your tax dollars.

“That is obviously a waste of taxpayer dollars and they need to stop it,” said Sen. Dave Weldon, R-Fla.

Weldon, who is also a doctor, is member of the House committee that funds CDC. He's outraged by the Hollywood story and other examples of spending exposed in a Congressional report: "CDC Off-Center".

Read the full report on CDC waste.

Fast Fact: And after it spent $269 million tax dollars on an effort to eliminate syphilis, syphilis rates went up 68 percent.

There's the new $109 million headquarters filled with nearly $10 million in furniture, which the report says works out to $12,000 per person in the building.

It's named after Arlen Specter, a top Republican senator in charge of CDC funding. But the naming is bipartisan. A top Democrat, Sen. Thomas Harkin, gets his name on the new $106 million communications and visitors center, complete with waterfalls, plasma TV's and more.

The $200,000 fitness center rivals the most posh private clubs with $30,000 saunas, "quiet rooms" and "zero gravity chairs" complete with "mood-enhancing light shows" for stressed out employees.

As for disease prevention, your money's being spent there too, but too often with disappointing results, says the report.

AIDS grants have been given to groups who've used them for workshops on erotic writing, how to flirt, and how to throw an alcohol party.

The CDC spent $5 billion over seven years on AIDS prevention, but the infection rate didn't drop a bit.

And after it spent $269 million tax dollars on an effort to eliminate syphilis, syphilis rates went up 68 percent.

“If a private company were spending money and getting no results like that, investors would withdraw their money,” Weldon said.

CDC Director Julie Louise Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H., wouldn't agree to an interview, from CDC's new state-of-the-art television studio or anywhere else.

But the agency issued a statement saying "CDC takes seriously the need to wisely and appropriately use its resources," and that the report gives an incomplete view of its "excellent public health work."

The new facility replaces dilapidated buildings and "have led to scientific advances and strengthened our ability to respond to public health emergencies."

The CDC recently told Congress it needs $1 billion more for 2008 on top of its $10 billion budget. At least some here are saying the agency needs to do a thorough internal exam before asking taxpayers to open their wallets wider.
 



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