Following President Trump’s sudden withdrawal from the World Health Organization, the question of whether RFK Jr.’s nomination for Secretary of HHS pulls through in Congress looms over the minds of many, especially those in health care. But just how bad would Kennedy be if granted office?
Kennedy’s policies range far and wide, from wishing to impose larger restrictions on the US food industry, bringing it up to speed with the EU so to speak, to anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. While most can find common ground on his beliefs with the food industry, his views on healthcare are nothing short of dangerous.
Breaking down his policy, Kennedy has always been a fierce critic of the pharmaceutical industry, processed foods, and water fluoridation, which many Americans concur. Despite never holding any office in healthcare or federal government, Kennedy wishes to undercut the FDA by firing hundreds of career employees and shift federal funding from infectious disease to chronic disease and obesity, a move that will be sure to damage the capabilities of the FDA.
In spite of all of the positives Kennedy may represent, Kennedy is still perhaps known most for his vaccine skepticism and spreading misinformation about the safety of vaccines. As HHS secretary, Kennedy will be able to alter the CDC’s vaccine recommendations to states, allowing states to grant more exemptions to parents, greatly increasing the number of children who could qualify to attend school without vaccines. Kennedy could also outright encourage states to make vaccines optional.
Vaccines have saved the lives of millions, allowing us to nearly eliminate viscous diseases like polio, and even entirely eradicate smallpox. If Kennedy were to roll back federal restrictions on vaccines, this could retrogress decades of work, and seriously endanger the lives of not just students, but the entire country.
