Anti-Vaxxer Robert Kennedy Jr. to Run Trump's Healthcare

President-elect Donald Trump will nominate anti-vaccine activist and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), a job equivalent to the health secretary in Europe. If the Senate confirms Kennedy Jr., it will herald the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. public health system in U.S. history, the publications write. Axios и Politico.

Photo: Laurence Agron | Dreamstime.com

Some of the issues Kennedy raised were important and reasonable, such as the prevalence of chronic disease and the U.S. food supply. But his claims included some outlandish theories, to say the least. One was that antidepressants were the cause of school shootings.

Make America Healthy Again Movement

After suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump, Kennedy began actively promoting an agenda called Make America Healthy Again (MAHA).

On the subject: Trump's Appointments: Who He Nominated for Key Positions

Among its goals are regulating dietary supplements and expanding health savings accounts. But the most intriguing part of the agenda is its conspiracy-theory-smelling ideas about corruption at the FDA. Note aut) MAHA opposes adding fluoride to water, is skeptical about vaccinations and has put forward a number of extravagant proposals.

Пagainst fluoride, for — psychedelics

Kennedy criticizes what he calls the FDA's "aggressive crackdown" on things like "psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapy, chelating agents, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunlight, physical activity, nutraceuticals, and anything that promotes human health that can't be patented by drug companies."

(For your information: Chelating compounds (chelates) are used to remove heavy metals from the body in a process called chelation therapy. These compounds bind to metals such as lead, mercury, or iron and help remove them from the body through the kidneys. Chelation therapy is usually prescribed for heavy metal poisoning or excess iron, as in some blood disorders.

Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug used to treat infections caused by parasites, including intestinal worms, lice, and ticks. It is used in veterinary and human medicine. In recent years, ivermectin has gained popularity as a potential treatment for COVID-19, but its effectiveness for this purpose has not been confirmed by large clinical trials, and it is still considered in human medicine as an antiparasitic drug.

Hydroxychloroquine is an antimalarial drug that, due to its anti-inflammatory effect, is also used in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hydroxychloroquine was considered as a possible treatment for coronavirus, but subsequent studies showed its low effectiveness and possible risks in the treatment of COVID-19, so it is now not recommended for this purpose).

Kennedy Jr. called for an end to the public practice of adding fluoride to water, calling it "an industrial waste linked to arthritis, broken bones, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disabilities and thyroid disease." Health experts have called fluoridation one of the greatest public health achievements and said claims of its dangers are not supported by science.

"We're seeing some truly extraordinary proposals from Kennedy," said Sarah Rosenbaum of the George Washington University Milken School of Public Health.

Vaccine skepticism

Public health experts are particularly concerned about Kennedy's skepticism about vaccines.

He is the chairman of the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense. However, Kennedy denies that he is not a pro-vaccine advocate, and said after Trump's election that he was not going to "take vaccines away from anyone." However, he also repeated a discredited claim about vaccines being linked to autism, saying on a podcast episode Joe Rogan Experience June 15 that autism has become more common because of modern vaccines. Researchers called the claims inaccurate and misleading.

CDC Director Mandy Cohen recently warned that Kennedy's views on vaccines could cost lives. Kennedy also suggested that a flu shot may have caused a condition called spasmodic dysphonia, a rare neurological disorder that affected his voice, NBC reported. However, this is not supported by research.

During the pandemic, Kennedy has argued that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe. He acknowledges that he has become one of the most prominent voices of the anti-vaccine movement, though he insists he is not part of the movement and has vaccinated his own children. He says he wants to examine government data on vaccine safety and bring it to the public.

Lyn Redwood, a nurse and longtime vaccine safety skeptic, is helping Kennedy in his transition work with the Trump team. Redwood is president emeritus of Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit led by Kennedy that promotes vaccine skepticism and stories of harm.

School vaccination requirements are determined at the state level, but guidance from federal agencies plays a major role in which vaccinations are required.

Pesticides, GMOs and chemical additives

During his legal career, Kennedy sued pesticide manufacturers, including Monsanto, then the maker of the herbicide RoundUp.

It's no surprise that lobbyists representing big food companies and commodity crops are secretly meeting with key lawmakers to block Kennedy from getting the HHS post.

Kennedy wants to eliminate chemicals from the food industry. But, as with pesticides, he faces a well-resourced industry with long-standing relationships on Capitol Hill.

And just as the industry defends pesticides and herbicides, food companies argue that chemicals and other food additives are already regulated and safe.

Eliminate corporate influence

Kennedy said he wants to see “entire departments” of the Food and Drug Administration, especially the food regulators, disbanded. The agency’s work includes setting dietary guidelines, overseeing food labeling and safety, and combating food-related diseases such as obesity and heart disease.

This, of course, fits with Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" and subdue the "deep state," by which he means the dominance of officials who sabotage his policies.

Jeff Hutt, a spokesman for the MAHA political committee and a former national director of field operations for Kennedy’s presidential campaign, said people associated with the MAHA movement are helping the Trump campaign vet candidates for appointments. Kennedy has shared a website for screening potential candidates for public office. (Trump’s team declined to confirm the involvement of Kennedy supporters in the transition process.)

"When we talk about making America healthy, we have to talk about how big corporations have captured our government agencies," Hutt said, adding that one of the movement's main goals is to create alternative research and policy support to enable policymakers to choose a path that is not dependent on big industry.

This kind of overhaul is difficult to achieve quickly. Companies and industry groups could sue the administration if they find reason to argue that the moves are illegal. But Republicans in Congress have expressed interest in overhauling the agencies and a distrust of the health care system overall.

"Science has been corrupted," Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Nov. 12. "What can we do to end the subordination of federal agencies to big corporate interests?"

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Will Kennedy Lead Health Care?

Kennedy may face a difficult confirmation process, but the appointment is raising alarm in the scientific community.

This week, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf cautioned against blurring the lines between politics and science. Still, Kennedy has vowed to tackle chronic disease, which some experts say could be helpful if he paid more attention to the proven factors that affect American health.

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