CDC director says he is "ready" to do more research on guns if Congress funds him

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, declares that the CDC is "ready" for research on the causes of armed violence if Congress chooses to provide additional funding. According to Redfield, the way in which the CDC sets its priorities for spending depends largely on the fact that "the Congress has a priority to want to finance us".

"We have a program called the National Violence Monitoring System … and we are recording violent deaths from all causes, including firearms, so it's going on," Redfield said.

In 1996, Congress passed the Dickey amendment, which banned the use of public health funds to "defend or promote gun control," but earlier this year, the Secretary of Social Services and health, Alex Azar, had stated that he would instruct the CDC to conduct research on the causes of firearms. violence.

Asked about the kind of constraints the CDC faces because of this provision, Redfield said, "I do not think we have any restrictions on research, the problem will be whether Congress can give us funding to expand. the research that we are currently able to lead. " The secretary also said that we had no restrictions on research. Basically, we have to get a funding mechanism that allows Congress to ask us to do this research. "

Redfield also talked about what he sees as the public health crisis of our time: the opioid epidemic. Preliminary data from the CDC show the number of fatal overdoses The country has recorded a plateau for six consecutive months, although more than 72,000 Americans died last year from an overdose. Just over 48,000 of these deaths were due to opioids.

It's a crisis that hits home at Redfield.

"It's a personal experience for me – I think you know that one of my six children almost died of fentanyl-contaminated cocaine," said Redfield co-host of "CBS This Morning," John Dickerson. "You know, my wife and I have a very supportive family, but my own son was in tears when he finally told us that he was using cocaine, and I did not understand, you know, why did not he come sooner? Because he was ashamed … you know, who knows why he started using cocaine?

According to Redfield, we now know that 2 to 6% of people who get a single opioid prescription for routine procedures like wisdom tooth extraction eventually become chronically dependent.

"There is a pathophysiological reason for addiction … and the more we can accept that, do not put people badly at ease," he said. "We do not want people to feel bad about having cancer, we have to let them take care of their illnesses and help them get the best therapeutic treatment so that they can lead productive, productive lives." happy. "

Despite recent CDC figures suggesting that the increase in drug overdoses has stabilized, the CDC director said that "huge" efforts would be needed to control the epidemic.

"Well, I think, first and foremost, we have to recognize him for what he is – it's a health problem." It's not a moral failure, is not it? It's not? And the second thing we need to recognize is that it's actually a chronic health problem, "he said. "You know, I'm trying to encourage people to support families like us who are trying to win the battle against opioid addiction … Recognize that treatment is a possible success.This should become the rule, not the exception. "