Afrigather The appointment of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Donald Trump’s Cupboard as Secretary of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) has left many docs and medical professionals shocked, with one calling it an “terribly unhealthy selection.”
Kennedy Jr. was nominated to the function that might see him take cost of America’s public well being companies on Thursday night time, two months after he dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump.
Following the choice by the president-elect, many medical professionals have been left aghast {that a} man who has beforehand been accused of amplifying conspiracy theories—most notably in regards to the COVID vaccine—may probably be in command of the well being of 350 million People from January if he’s confirmed by the Senate.
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s transition workforce and Kennedy Jr. for remark.
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“I feel that is an awfully unhealthy selection,” Dr. Ashish Jha, a former Biden administration COVID-19 coordinator and the dean of Brown College’s Faculty of Public Well being, instructed CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
Jha additionally famous that previous HHS secretaries from each Republican and Democratic administrations have sometimes allowed scientists of their companies to make choices based mostly on proof.
“RFK Jr. has signaled that he does not intend to comply with this strategy,” Jha stated. “As an alternative of counting on rigorous evaluation and proof, he appears poised to prioritize his personal views in decision-making.”
However whereas loads of criticism is flooding in, some medical professionals are defending Kennedy Jr.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican, praised his nomination in an interview with Fox Information. “Trump has completed nicely by deciding on RFK Jr. as a result of he is obtained the eye of the general public. These points aren’t new points.”
“I imagine that the 86,000 staff at HHS…I imagine most of them will welcome RFK as a result of they’re getting smothered underneath company seize,” he stated. “These companies aren’t really free to do what they wish to do ceaselessly.”
What Has RFK Jr. Mentioned About Vaccines?
Kennedy has beforehand claimed that vaccines may cause autism in kids, and regardless of denying that he’s a vaccine skeptic, in December 2023, Kennedy instructed CNN’s Kasie Hunt he “can be in opposition to mandates” for youngsters in public colleges.
In line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC): “Many research have checked out whether or not there’s a relationship between vaccines and ASD [autism spectrum disorder]. Up to now, the research proceed to point out that vaccines aren’t related to ASD.”
The proportion of vaccinated kids is declining. Final month, the CDC reported that the share of kids exempt from vaccine necessities rose to three.3 p.c, up from 3 p.c in 2023, marking the very best degree since such necessities have been established.
As of November 1, the CDC has recorded 15 measles outbreaks, totaling 272 instances. Greater than half of those instances have been amongst kids underneath 5, with one other quarter affecting kids aged 5 to 19. Almost 90 p.c of these contaminated have been unvaccinated.
Placing Kennedy Jr. in a job that oversees these instances is “a possible disaster ready to unfold,” in line with Dr. Kavita Patel, a professor of drugs at Stanford College and a board licensed inside medication doctor who served as director of coverage for the Workplace of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement within the White Home underneath President Barack Obama.
“Think about, if you’ll, giving the keys to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention’s information vaults to somebody who has spent years spreading misinformation about vaccines,” she wrote in an MSNBC article. “It is like asking a flat-earther to pilot our subsequent mission to area.”
Former CDC performing director Dr. Richard Besser additionally condemned the decide.
“Frankly, I discover it chilling,” he instructed CNN. He added that Kennedy’s views on little one vaccines are harmful.
“He has completed a lot to undermine the boldness that individuals have in that unbelievable intervention,” he stated.
Epidemiologist and ABC Information contributor Dr. John Brownstein was additionally amongst these to boost considerations about Kennedy, telling ABC that his appointment as HHS secretary will “seemingly undermine public well being efforts.”
“The objective of public well being officers is to bolster belief when there’s public skepticism, and once you put somebody in a management function that has a historical past of skepticism, particularly vaccines, that’s going to trigger plenty of misinformation…that may seemingly undermine public well being efforts,” he stated.
Trump has stated he would “decide” about probably banning vaccines based mostly on Kennedy’s suggestions, although he lacks the unilateral authority to take action. Kennedy, for his half, has assured the general public that he is not going to “take vaccines away from anyone.”
Dr. Peter McCullough, internist and heart specialist, instructed Fox Information that Kennedy’s views on vaccines have been overblown.
“I do know RFK Jr. personally. I do know he is taken loads of vaccines, as I’ve. It isn’t a problem of taking away individuals’s vaccines. It is a few private selection and security of merchandise,” he instructed Laura Ingraham.
RFK Jr.’s Views on Processed Meals Praised
Kennedy does have some views that prime physicians have welcomed, together with his calls to take away processed meals from faculty lunches and his warnings in regards to the meals business’s function in exacerbating the power illness disaster. He additionally advocates for restoring a “gold commonplace” of science to the well being sector, which he believes is overly influenced by massive pharmaceutical firms.
Talking on Fox Information in October, Kennedy vowed to get processed meals out of college lunches “instantly” if he was appointed by Trump.
On The Steve Gruber Present in September, Kennedy outlined meals he would attempt to cease kids consuming.
“Youngsters should not be consuming grains. They need to positively not be consuming seed oils. They usually for positive shouldn’t be consuming sugar. And but that’s what we’re forcing them to eat,” he stated.
Kennedy has been suggested on this by Dr. Casey Means, a Stanford-educated surgeon and wellness guru who has pushed for a radical overhaul of the nation’s meals and well being methods.
Greater than 4 in 10 American adults are overweight, in line with 2023 evaluation from NORC on the College of Chicago.
“If the fitting wing desires to make America wholesome once more, I feel that is improbable,” Marion Nestle, a vitamin professor emerita at New York College, instructed the Wall Road Journal.
