Vishnupriya
Donald Trump’s Health secretary pick Robert F Kennedy Jr wishes to ‘make America healthy again’ and intends to implement a slew of measures to prevent the nation from the clutches of chronic diseases. However, many of his proposed changes have alarmed health experts who have expressed serious concerns about his nomination, citing his controversial views on vaccines and abortion. His views on processed foods and the use of additives have also enjoyed popular support.
As Robert K Kennedy Jr is set to face his first confirmation hearing, he is expected to be grilled by senators about his controversial views on vaccines and other topics, as well as potential conflicts of interest he would face in the role. This is touted as the toughest confirmation hearings yet for one of President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.
RFK Jr would appear before two committees on Wednesday and Thursday and if approved would be heading key health agencies with about 80,000 employees and will have a trillion-dollar budget.
Let’s take a look at his views on healthcare that lack scientific evidence and those that could actually transform health scene in United States of America.
Robert F Kennedy Jr, an environmental lawyer, has been seen as a prominent anti-vaccination advocate. In his 2023 interview with Fox News he said: “autism comes from vaccines”. The autism link to vaccines was popularised by UK doctor Andrew Wakefield in a research. However, Wakefield’s 1998 study was retracted by the Lancet and many other studies done across the countries conclude that there is no link between vaccines and autism. His inaccurate claims on vaccines, infectious diseases and other areas of medical science had put him at loggerheads with medical experts. Especially with his anti-vaccine reputation, many experts expressed fear of renewed, deadly epidemics of measles, whooping cough, and meningitis, or even polio.
Putting everyone’s doubts to rest, Kennedy in an NPR interview had said that vaccines were “not going to be taken away from anybody”, and that he only wants to improve the science on vaccine safety which he believes has huge deficits. However, many of his apprehensions of the vaccine safety regime has been dismissed by experts.
Kennedy has said that he would want to examine government vaccine safety data and share his findings with the public.
Flouride
Kennedy also talked about removing fluoride, which prevents tooth decay by up to 25%, from the US drinking water. Kennedy said on X that “the Trump White House will advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water”. He said flouride “is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease”.
Recent court rulings have resulted in reduced fluoride levels in US water, prompting some experts to question its necessity in water systems, given its widespread presence in toothpaste and other dental products. However, eliminating it entirely may still be challenging.
His stance on food additives
RFK Jr hasn’t minced her words on additives in food and how ultra-processed foods are causing the obesity epidemic. He also thinks these foods with conditions like cancers in young adults and mental health conditions.
While the research shows how the American diet, primarily ultra-processed foods could raise risk of cancers, obesity and depression, there’s no clear evidence they are caused by UPFs.
Dr David Nunan, from the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM) says “multiple factors, including broader lifestyle, socioeconomic determinants, and healthcare access, need to be considered. Studies to date cannot reliably separate out the individual impact of UPFs from these other factors”.
However, this is one change, experts agree, that could change US population’s overall health.
Kennedy, a vocal critic of Covid-19 restrictions, claimed last year that the virus targets Caucasians and Black people while sparing Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. Health experts dismiss this as false, stating the virus does not target specific ethnic groups.
“The claims of Robert F Kennedy Jr are very damaging given they do not follow scientific evidence,” says Prof Melinda Mills at Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Population Health.
“As many credible peer-reviewed Covid-19 studies have shown, differences in Covid infections and deaths between socioeconomic and ethnic groups is related to inequalities, deprivation and living in larger or intergenerational households.”
