CDC’s ability to prevent injuries like drowning, traumatic brain injury and falls is severely compromised by Trump cuts

Motor vehicle crashes kill more than 40,000 people in the U.S. every year. Cavan Images/Getty Images

Much has been written about the unprecedented impact that the second Trump administration has had on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from massive job cuts and entire programs being wiped out to leadership shake-ups and the undermining of science. But behind every headline, countless stories have gone untold about the real-world impacts that these changes will have on everyday people.

I’m a public health expert who spent 18 years as a scientist at the CDC. I see the systematic dismantling of the agency as a significant risk to the country’s ability to keep Americans safe and give medical professionals the data needed to keep them that way.