Health Care
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Health Care
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How RFK Jr. could influence public health
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is poised to have a major role in shaping health care in the second Trump administration.
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While it’s not quite clear exactly what role RFK Jr. will have, what is clear is that President-elect Trump’s promise to let Kennedy “go wild” on health is demoralizing public health leaders and experts.
“FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” Kennedy wrote on social media shortly before the election, referring to the Food and Drug Administration.
Vaccines in the crosshairs: In separate interviews with NPR and NBC last week, Kennedy said he wouldn’t take vaccines away from anybody. But he also repeated his criticism that health agencies haven’t done enough research on vaccines.
- Experts say there are institutional guardrails in place at federal agencies that would prevent some of the most radical changes from happening, such as having vaccines pulled off the market.
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But Kennedy could still exert influence in other ways, such as appointing Trump loyalists and vaccine skeptics to a key vaccine advisory panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The biggest worry? A bully pulpit: Even if Kennedy himself isn’t actively involved in making vaccine policy, his presence as a key insider can shape public perception. And he would have a bully pulpit to continue questioning vaccine science.
- “I think the biggest risk of [Kennedy] is his mouth. You know, creating distrust or confusion with the [vaccine approval] process,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
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“Vaccines have been such a controversial area, and there’s so many groups that he’s worked with over the years that have spread misinformation. I suspect if he says something that’s controversial, those groups will be poised to accelerate it, make it go viral.”
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These officials and experts worry RFK Jr. could meddle with key government agencies, amplify vaccine hesitancy and direct agency funding to favor his preferred views.
- Kennedy has long expressed a
deep skepticism of pharmaceutical companies and the agencies overseeing them. With Trump in power, Kennedy could be put in charge of those same agencies.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
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How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:
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The World Health Organization (WHO) will convene a meeting later this month to determine whether the mpox outbreak occurring in Africa still constitutes a a public health emergency of international concern. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared in August that the “upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a growing number of countries in Africa” constituted a public health emergency …
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Ozempic, an FDA-approved treatment for type 2 diabetes, blew up when people began using it as a weight loss drug. Since then, various medical studies have found that the key ingredient, semaglutide, has helped people suffering from kidney health, heart health, drug addiction and Alzheimer’s disease. But new research is showing some negative side effects of the drug, including muscle loss. An international team published …
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Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Sunday he agrees with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) that the far left helped propel President-elect Trump to victory, adding that the most effective Trump campaign ad was “Kamala Harris is for they/them, and Donald Trump is for us.”
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Local and state headlines on health care:
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Idaho health agency halts COVID vaccine program, joining backlash (USA Today)
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GOP lawmaker cites abortion comments in push to replace incoming Missouri House speaker (Missouri Independent)
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1849 abortion law has been effectively repealed, liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court justices argue (Wisconsin State Journal)
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Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
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He’s the FDA’s cancer chief, not a fortune teller (New York Times)
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‘What’s your pain right now?’ Sickle cell, loss, and survival in America (Stat)
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‘We know what is coming’: Federal bureaucrats wrestle with fight-or-flight response to Trump election (Politico)
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Most read stories on The Hill right now:
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Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is projected to beat Republican Kari Lake in a consequential race for a seat in the Senate, dealing the former local news … Read more
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Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who are all running to become the next Senate GOP leader, say they will do … Read more
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Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill:
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You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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