Governor Jeff Landry has appointed Dr. Evelyn Griffin—a vocal skeptic of widely accepted vaccines and supporter of weakening infant immunization policies—as Louisiana’s next Surgeon General. This decision sends a dangerous signal at a time when public trust in science and medicine is already under strain.

Dr. Griffin has questioned the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine, supported eliminating the long-standing recommendation for infants to receive the Hepatitis B vaccine at birth, and praised the leadership of a predecessor who ended mass vaccination campaigns during a deadly pandemic. These views are not aligned with the overwhelming consensus of the medical and scientific communities, which credit vaccines with saving millions of lives.

Louisiana already faces urgent health crises, including one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the nation. Our communities need a Surgeon General who strengthens public health—not one who undermines it with anti-vaccine rhetoric and decisions that place personal ideology above evidence-based care.

The Surgeon General plays a critical role in shaping health policy and messaging statewide. Appointing someone with a track record of casting doubt on life-saving interventions could jeopardize immunization rates, reverse decades of progress in disease prevention, and put our most vulnerable residents—infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals—at greater risk.

We are calling on Governor Landry and the Louisiana Department of Health to reverse this appointment immediately and select a qualified public health leader who is firmly grounded in science, transparency, and the well-being of all Louisiana residents.

Public health is not a political experiment. It's a commitment to protecting lives through the best evidence we have. Sign this petition to demand leadership we can trust.

Photo: AP / Brynn Anderson