RFK Jr. Can’t Catch a Bad News Break: Public Health Project Newsletter

Even out of public sight this week recovering from shoulder surgery, Trump health secretary RFK Jr.’s reckless anti-science rhetoric and even worse policies never cease to generate bad news about the declining state of public health. The CliffsNotes:

KFF Health News reports: “Across the nation, more children are entering ERs for preventable tooth problems” and RFK Jr,’s anti-fluoride crusade and the trillion-dollar cuts to Medicaid in the Trump Big Ugly Law “aren’t helping.”
RFK Jr.’s ‘eat meat’ campaign is still running on empty with the latest Consumer Price Index showing beef prices are up “8.6% from a year ago”, while a major new survey found a third of Americans are making sacrifices like skipping meals altogether to afford rising health costs fueled by Trump’s trillion dollar health cuts as the Iran war is costing $890 million a day.
RFK Jr’s typical ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ approach to medical claims has once again needlessly stirred confusion, disappointment and outrage. After Kennedy made national headlines last year by cavalierly touting unverified claims that leucovorin is a potential miracle autism treatment, this week CNN reports many families are now feeling ‘betrayed’ after Kennedy’s FDA retreated on those claims when they officially limited the drug’s recommendation for a rare genetic disease, not autism. Smooth move, Secretary Ex-Lax.
Speaking of misinformation, Kennedy’s firehose of unfounded anti-vax claims has made life absolutely miserable for America’s pediatricians trying to keep kids free from disease, the NYT reports. As stressed by Protect Our Care’s Kayla Hancock, Kennedy has fostered “a misinformation epidemic— leaving parents confused and children more susceptible to preventable diseases.”
The San Antonio Express-News editorial board gets it: “Kennedy isn’t merely the most dangerous member of Trump’s Cabinet. He may be the most dangerous U.S. Cabinet member in history because of how he’s infected public health policy with his warped and science-free ideas. […] The harm Kennedy has inflicted on this nation is incalculable and will be felt for years. He should be fired before he lays further waste to the U.S. public health system.”
Among the worst actions to date under the Trump-RFK Jr’s extremely unpopular anti-vax agenda was its unfounded CDC child vaccine schedule downgrade last year – a move so reckless and endangering to kids that it has ignited revolt from most states’ health departments. As of this week, 30 states including DC, “announced that they are no longer going to follow CDC’s recommendations for some or all childhood vaccines.” That won’t do Kennedy’s rock-bottom public trust rating any favors.
The White House political team may be desperate to keep a lid on the administration’s ongoing anti-vax activities, but RFK Jr.’s close allies held a big conference this week unabashedly calling for “eliminating the childhood vaccine schedule entirely”. Is there really any doubt that post-midterms, RFK Jr.’s dream team of anti-science quacks inside the administration will dispense with the coyness and go all in on the anti-vax agenda against children’s health that his movement demands when it’s politically convenient?
Also this week, RFK Jr.’s HHS is hosting its inaugural conference on women’s health – a limp and transparent attempt to distract from the myriad of ways the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress rolled back the clock on women’s health care, from ripping away health tax credits from over 12 million women to severely restricting reproductive freedoms even when mothers’ lives are at stake, to going after research and health programs that address women’s health disparities.
HHS Chaos, Part Infinity: In the fifth turnover for the top Trump vaccine regulator post this term, Vinay Prasad is headed for the exit next month after a string of erratic behavior, including outrageous evidence-free claims of children dying from the covid vaccine, “retaliation against subordinates and verbally berating staff,” controversially denying the approval of new drugs for rare diseases, overruling his own staff to stonewall a major life-saving flu shot, and facing allegations of criminally violating the Trade Secrets Act.