Seventy-seven Nobel laureates opposed the nomination of environmental and health activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
by letter First reported by the New York TimesNobel laureates are calling on U.S. senators to reject RFK Jr.'s nomination, citing his “lack of qualifications” in health sciences and government, his opposition to vaccines, and “conspiracy” regarding mainstream medicine. Concerns are growing over the promotion of “opinions”.
“Putting Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the public's health at risk and undermine America's global leadership in health sciences,” the letter warned.
Kennedy, the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, is an environmental lawyer and activist who has published misinformation about vaccines, including debunking the falsehood that vaccination causes autism. He founded Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit organization that has been accused of spreading the word. President-elect Trump announced his intention to nominate Kennedy to lead HHS in November after Kennedy, who ran as an independent, endorsed Trump as his presidential candidate.
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Former President Donald Trump introduces Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now independent after resigning from the presidential race and endorsing Trump, at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on August 23, 2024. (Imagination)
The letter cited President Kennedy's opposition to widely accepted public health interventions, such as vaccinations and drinking water fluoridation, and suggested that his approval could harm the public. There is. The Nobel laureates also cited his rejection of scientific evidence showing that HIV causes AIDS.
Additionally, the Nobel laureates have called Kennedy a “belligerent critic” of the agencies he will oversee as health secretary, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.
President Kennedy accused the FDA of “corruption” and called for a “whole department” to be wiped out. He also reportedly called the CDC's vaccine division a “fascist enterprise” and accused the health agency of being in control of the pharmaceutical industry. NBC News.
The Nobel laureates argue that the next health secretary should “continue to nurture and improve rather than threaten these important and respected institutions and their staff.”
Trump Tap RFK JR. Leads the Department of Health and Human Services
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks before Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Molly Gash)
President Trump's transition team did not respond to requests for comment.
If confirmed, Kennedy will oversee a vast health policy bureaucracy that includes 13 government agencies, operates on a $2 trillion budget, and controls Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other important federal health programs. will be managed.
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Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra spoke during a press conference at HHS Headquarters in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Amanda Andrade Rose/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Department of Health and Human Services guides public health policy for the treatment and prevention of disease. Provides grants for medical research and community health programs. We support child welfare programs such as adoption, foster care, child care, and child abuse. Develop a bioterrorism defense strategy. Resettle refugees seeking asylum in the United States and elsewhere.
“President Trump has asked me to do three things: 1. Clean up corruption in government health agencies. 2. Return these agencies to a rich tradition of gold standards and evidence-based science.” “Make America Healthy Again by Ending the Chronic Disease Epidemic,'' Kennedy posted on X after his nomination.
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Kennedy is not the only recent candidate for the Department of Health to come under intense public scrutiny for an apparent lack of health qualifications. Conservatives opposed President Biden's nomination of then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the department in 2020, citing Becerra's lack of health-related experience as a former congressman and lawyer.
The Senate approved Becerra 50-49, with support from all Democrats and only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
