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President-elect Donald Trump has named Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his selection for the following secretary of the Division of Well being and Human Companies.
The HHS secretary is a Cupboard-level place, and thus must be nominated and confirmed by the Senate Committee on Finance. However the announcement probably units the stage for Kennedy to steer a wide selection of companies, together with the Meals and Drug Administration, from which he is stated he would lower “total departments.”
Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post Thursday afternoon, saying, “People have been crushed by the commercial meals complicated and drug firms who’ve engaged in deception, misinformation and disinformation.” He added that Kennedy will “guarantee everyone can be protected against dangerous chemical substances, pollution, pesticides, pharmaceutical merchandise and meals components which have contributed to the overwhelming Well being Disaster on this Nation,” and reiterated Kennedy’s “Make America Wholesome Once more” slogan. Trump has beforehand stated that he would enable Kennedy to “go wild” in his appointed place and “do just about what he needs.”
However what would an RFK Jr.-led HHS really imply for the American folks? Right here’s what to find out about a few of the former presidential candidate’s concepts about well being, and what consultants make of them.
After a long time of anti-vaccine activism, Kennedy is taking a softer stance
Kennedy advised MSNBC on Nov. 6 that he has “by no means been anti-vaccine,” however his monitor document suggests in any other case. He took a place in 2015 as chairman of an organization called Children’s Health Defense, which places vaccines as its first concern on its web site. The group questions the well being, security and efficacy of childhood vaccines and has filed lawsuits claiming that kids have been harmed by immunizations. Kennedy has additionally amplified false claims that vaccines trigger autism, and was deemed one of many “Disinformation Dozen” chargeable for spreading 65% of false claims about pictures on-line by the Heart for Countering Digital Hate.
He now insists that he’s not “going to remove anyone’s vaccines” and desires to “make certain the scientific security research and efficacy research are on the market and other people could make particular person assessments about whether or not that product goes to be good for them.”
This private selection method might sound benign, but it surely doesn’t work significantly nicely when utilized to infectious ailments. When persons are deciding if they need to get their children or themselves vaccinated towards an intangible, eradicated illness comparable to measles or polio, “it’s a catch-22,” Dr. Georges Benjamin, government director of the American Public Well being Affiliation, tells Yahoo Life. “The explanation you don’t see that illness is as a result of [people are being] vaccinated and there’s sufficient herd immunity round you that if somebody does get the illness, it doesn’t unfold.”
Rates of childhood vaccination have already fallen beneath the really helpful ranges for herd immunity towards sicknesses like measles and pertussis (also referred to as whooping cough) in lots of states because the share of oldsters selecting to not get their children vaccinated by way of exemptions has risen. And as fewer children have gotten immunized, extra outbreaks of these ailments have cropped up. “Whereas it’s vital for folks to have entry to correct security info and to make knowledgeable choices, … permitting broad particular person opt-outs might result in a weakening of that group safety,” Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon basic throughout Trump’s first time period, tells Yahoo Life. At the moment, every state units its faculty vaccine necessities, however they’re based mostly on suggestions made by federal well being authorities.
Kennedy on fluoride
In response to the newest knowledge obtainable from the Centers for Disease Control and Health Prevention, about 63% of the U.S. inhabitants obtained fluoride of their ingesting water in 2022. Fluoride is a mineral that happens naturally in sure meals and helps to advertise robust bones and enamel. Dentists deal with enamel with fluoride, and the mineral is present in most toothpastes. Its addition to ingesting water is credited with lowering cavity charges by between 25% and 35% for each kids and adults.
Fluoride was added to the U.S. group water provide within the Forties. Within the many a long time since, fluoride has turn out to be conspiracy principle and misinformation fodder. Days earlier than the election, Kennedy repeated unproven claims that “fluoride is an industrial waste related to arthritis, bone fractures, bone most cancers, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental problems, and thyroid illness” on X. He additionally stated that “on January 20, the Trump White Home will advise all U.S. water methods to take away fluoride from public water.”
Kennedy walked again this declare in his MSNBC interview on Wednesday, saying he wouldn’t compel anybody to take away fluoride from ingesting water. However, he added, “I believe the quicker that it goes out the higher,” and urged that he would warn water districts about their “authorized legal responsibility” in the event that they selected to go away fluoride of their water methods.
In apply, fluoridation is a apply dictated by state and native authorities. “Whereas the federal authorities can set suggestions, it can not immediately mandate or prohibit fluoride use in public water methods,” says Adams. However, he provides, the White Home and the secretary of well being and human providers can affect native insurance policies by means of funding allocations, suggestions and public messaging. Eradicating fluoride altogether, as Kennedy claims the White Home will do, might “price the U.S. billions in added well being care bills because of the elevated want for dental remedies,” says Adams.
‘Why can we eat Froot Loops?’ Kennedy is worried about meals dyes and components
Kennedy vowed in a press release Wednesday to intestine “total departments” of the FDA. Particularly, he referred to as out the “vitamin division,” which he says is “not defending our youngsters. Why do We’ve got Froot Loops on this nation that [contain] 18 or 19 substances, and also you go to Canada and there are three?” (For what it’s value, Kennedy acknowledged that solely Congress has the authority to remove federal companies).
Whereas Kennedy didn’t clarify why this was a high difficulty for him in his MSNBC interview, in September he posted a video on YouTube that sheds some gentle on the topic. Referring to Cap’n Crunch cereal and Doritos, he opined that “it’s no coincidence that People die sooner than Canadians or Germans or Japanese or Koreans or Australians or most some other comparable nation,” citing rising charges of weight problems and most cancers. To be clear, there isn’t any proof that meals dyes or components, on their very own, are lethal or trigger most cancers, although researchers are investigating the connection between extremely processed meals, weight problems and illness.
“Whereas RFK Jr. raises some legitimate considerations in regards to the substances and components in our meals provide, significantly using synthetic meals dyes and preservatives, the broader suggestion of eliminating regulatory departments such because the FDA’s vitamin division is misguided,” says Adams. “Relating to meals components, whereas there’s rising public concern about sure substances, many of those considerations are addressed by means of present regulatory processes. The FDA regularly reviews the safety of food additives based mostly on new science and analysis.”
Implementing Kennedy’s bold insurance policies can be as much as the states
Kennedy’s acknowledged objective is to “Make America Wholesome Once more,” however can he obtain that? Most well being insurance policies, together with water fluoridation and vaccine necessities, are below the purview of state and native governments. Nevertheless, if Kennedy’s beliefs translate into coverage or messaging, there could possibly be actual penalties. The hope, although, is that the incoming administration will “prioritize the well-being of the general public,” Adams stated.
