By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday he had nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist who spread misinformation about vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the top health agency in the United States. agency.
In a post on X, Kennedy vowed to be able to stop chronic diseases, clean up corruption and provide America with the data necessary to make an informed decision, vowing to Trump that he would be able to “Make America Healthy Again.”
Kennedy ran for president in this year’s election as an independent before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in a Republican administration.
Kennedy, the son and nephew of two Democratic political titans, has often spoken about tackling what he calls the “epidemic of chronic diseases” including obesity, diabetes and autism, and reducing chemicals in food.
“The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of the Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping everyone be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives. The Health Crisis is overwhelming in the Country this,” Trump said in a post on social media.
The Department of Health and Human Services oversees drug regulation, public health agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health insurance for more than 140 million people including the poor, age 65 and older, and the disabled through Medicare and Medicaid.
HHS has a budget of $3.09 trillion for fiscal year 2024, which represents 22.8% of the US federal budget.
Drew Altman, president of the health research firm KFF, described the move as historic and said Kennedy, if confirmed, would continue in the role, as he doesn’t often discuss programs like Medicaid and Medicare, which are heavily burdened. the US health budget.
“Historically, the secretary has been someone with real experience and standing in national health care and he’s certainly not that, and has views from outside the mainstream, and is a renegade appointment,” Altman said.
The appointment, which has been seen as a possibility for weeks, has raised concerns among some public health advocates who say Kennedy could have a negative role in America’s health because of his power over the agency. The Democratic Party rejected the decision.
Some politicians and business groups supported the nomination, such as the National Association of Community Pharmacists, which said they were encouraged by his willingness to take on the company.
HEALTH PRIORITY
Kennedy has been part of Trump’s transition team and has reviewed the resumes of candidates for top jobs at the US health agency.
Kennedy has suggested he would eliminate the 18,000-employee Food and Drug Administration — which ensures the safety of food, drugs and medical devices — and replace hundreds of employees at the National Institutes of Health.
“The FDA’s war on public health is coming to an end,” he wrote in X in late October, adding that it included an “aggressive crackdown” on psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, sunlight, and other items.
“If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Save your records, and 2. Pack your bags,” he wrote.
In early November, he said he would recommend that fluoride be removed from public water supplies, falsely claiming X that the chemical was linked to bone fractures and cancer.
In a New York Times (NYSE:) opinion article published in September, Kennedy criticized the popular Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) weight loss drug Ozempic, saying, “Instead of improving our food system and solving the obesity crisis at the root, the author focuses on a drug that can reduce the symptoms – and please the wallets of distant Big Pharma executives.
Dr. Ashish Jha, former White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator and dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said: “Most people don’t realize it’s not about the fluoride in the water, or even the vaccine, that’s so important. . The HHS secretary oversees Medicare and its appointees will decide what medicine is available to the American people.
James Capretta, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former White House staffer under George W. Bush, said it’s unclear what impact Kennedy will have but it won’t be immediate.
“There are a lot of constraints on policymaking at the agency level, even at the secretary level,” he said.
VACCINE
Shares of vaccine manufacturers are included Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: ) and Modern (NASDAQ: ) fell after the news of Kennedy’s appointment and fell as much as 2% in after-hours trading.
Kennedy has been criticized for making false medical claims, including vaccines linked to autism. He has opposed state and federal restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been accused of spreading misinformation about the virus.
They objected to the anti-vaccine tag, saying they wanted stricter vaccine trials. Instead, he chairs Defense for Children’s Health, a nonprofit focused on anti-vaccine messaging.
In an interview in March, while still president, Kennedy said Americans who want vaccines for themselves or their children will continue to have access if he is elected. But he said he has doubts about the effectiveness of the measles vaccine.
Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost entirely preventable through vaccination. 95% vaccine coverage is needed to prevent outbreaks among the population. U.S. coverage rates have fallen to that level among young children, the CDC said this month.
Vaccines have saved more than 154 million lives in the 20th century – the equivalent of six lives every minute every year for the past 50 years, said Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert from the University of Minnesota.
“Immunization continues to be the biggest contributor to health interventions to ensure that babies not only see their first birthday, but also continue to live healthy lives into adulthood,” he said.
