Nadine Yousif
The former head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said she was fired last month for refusing to sign off on changes to vaccine policy "regardless of the scientific evidence."
Dr Susan Monarez also told a Senate committee on Wednesday she was sacked for refusing a request from Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr to dismiss CDC vaccine experts "without cause."
"He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign," she said.
Kennedy fired Dr Monarez less than a month after she was sworn in as head of the agency that leads the US response to infectious and chronic diseases, adding to a heated political fight over the changes he has made to his department this year.
Testifying alongside the former chief medical officer for the agency, who resigned after the firing, Dr Monarez told the health committee she had a meeting with Kennedy on 25 August, where he "demanded" two things from her.
The first was that she approve every recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Kennedy had dismissed the committee's full membership in June, and has appointed all of its new members
The second, Dr Monarez said, was "to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy, without cause."
When she refused to resign, Kennedy said he had already spoken to the White House about having her removed, she said, adding he informed her he was in frequent communication with President Donald Trump about changes to US vaccine policy.
Kennedy, a notable vaccine sceptic, has previously denied that she was told to sign off on vaccine recommendations that did not have a scientific basis.
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