Trump pick of RFK for top US health job astounds critics

Last night, news broke that President-Elect Donald Trump had nominated Robert F Kennedy Jr (aka RFK Jr) as US Health Secretary. This morning, the public and health scientists react to the controversial decision.

The BBC reports that Trump praised his pick for Health and Human Services Secretary as a “great mind” in his first speech since election night, confirming recent building speculation. He stated that the vaccine sceptic will "help make America healthy again" by protecting them from "harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives."

Additionally, Trump confirmed his nomination of RFK Jr – the 70-year-old son of Robert Kennedy Sr and nephew of President John F Kennedy – with a post on social media, adding: “The safety and health of all Americans is the most important role of any administration […] For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health.”

The President-Elect’s own stance on many health issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the presence of fluoride in American water systems, has sparked much debate, but so too have statements from RFK Jr himself. Only this month, Kennedy falsely claimed that fluoride in public water supplies contributes to “bone fractures and cancer.” Other conspiracies he has touted include, as The Times reports, wi-fi signals causing “leaky brain” and other chemicals in water “turning children transgender.”

The Times also reports that the environmental lawyer aims to address the “chronic disease epidemic”, including obesity and diabetes, but also autism, for which he has blamed childhood vaccines – a theory extensively debunked. 

Nonetheless, it has been discussed that some of Kennedy’s agenda could receive bipartisan support, and Democrats find common ground with some of his policies. For instance, former House Representative Jared Polis, Democrat Governor of Colorado, posted on X that RFK Jr will "help make America healthy again by shaking up” the HHS and FDA.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) oversees drug, vaccine, and food safety, as well as medical research, in addition to Medicare and Medicaid. The “shaking up” that Polis mentions could include what is effectively a “dismantling” of the FDA, which ensures the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices. Furthermore, Kennedy has suggested that hundreds of employees from the National institutes of Health (NIH) would be let go.

In a post on X in October, RFK Jr wrote that, “FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” deeming the agency’s work as “aggressive suppression.” Included in the list of things “suppressed” were psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk – and sunshine. 

Meanwhile, The Washington Post's national health reporter, Dan Diamond, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that RFK Jr’s agenda shares similar policy stances to the Democrats on food – as pertains to ‘de-chemicalising’ processed foods – and the "power of the pharmaceutical industry" with progressive Senator Bernie Sanders. And the National Community Pharmacists’ Association has said it is “encouraged” by RFK Jr’s “willingness to take on corporations.”

Polis further noted that RFK Jr’s promise of delivery on capping prescription drug prices, cutting certain FDA departments, and moving away from "pesticide-intensive agriculture" were reasons for his “excitement,” but caveated that, “science must remain THE [sic.] cornerstone of our nation’s health policy and the science-backed decision to get vaccinated improves public health and safety” – the latter point a nod to Kennedy’s vaccine scepticism.

But former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Richard Besser, told NBC News that he was “speechless”: “To have someone leading the Department of Health and Human Services who has been one of the biggest purveyors of misinformation about public health in general, would imperil the health of people across the country.”

There is yet to be a possible confirmation hearing in the Senate of Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr to the post. The President-Elect has sought for the convention to be bypassed by Congress, though; a convention that ensures nominees are qualified for their positions. It is worth noting that Kennedy has no medical or public health qualifications and champions alternative medicine.

Indeed, Chemical & Engineering News’ reports that life sciences research in the US could look very different come 2025 if RFK Jr is confirmed in the position, with the concerning potential for him to unravel the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the NIH. And the funds for the latter are critical to the biopharmaceutical industry.

One biotech executive spoke to the publication “on the condition of anonymity”, stating that “the entire scientific and medical community must now work hard to have this nomination rejected to preserve public health.” Meanwhile, Jeffrey Flier, an endocrinologist and Harvard Medical School professor, called Kennedy’s nomination “completely insane” in a post on X. 

Shares in multiple vaccine makers have fallen since Trump announced Kennedy’s nomination as Health Secretary, telling RFK Jr to “Go wild on health.” The Standard & Poor’s Biotechnology Select Industry Index (XBI), one measure of the health of the life sciences industry, fell more than 3% over the day Thursday and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell more than 2%.

Image of Robert F Kennedy Jr by Gage Skidmore, sourced from Flickr.