At Meeting, Vaccine Advisers Discuss Disease Data, Need For Measles Shots
Public health professionals were encouraged by the business-as-usual meeting, but it's uncertain what the talks means for vaccine policy more broadly, Stat reports. Also Tuesday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. indicated he intends to change the vaccine injury reporting system, and he criticized the measles vaccine as well as "perverse incentives" in the medical system.
Stat:
Vaccine Advisory Panel Meets, Avoiding Conflict With RFK Jr.
A meeting of vaccine advisers long targeted by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unfolded Tuesday seemingly without fireworks or interference, although the new administration’s imprint could be seen from the start, when staff for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gutted by layoffs, struggled to get a livestream running. (Mast, 4/15)
Stat:
RFK Jr. Plans Changes To Vaccine Injury Reporting System
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that he plans to roll out changes to the vaccine injury monitoring system that would automate and increase data collection as well as look for negative impacts of the shots. (Payne, 4/15)
More from HHS chief RFK Jr. —
USA Today:
RFK Jr. Claims 'Leaky' Measles Vaccine Wanes Over Time. Scientists Say He's Wrong.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the measles vaccine is "leaky" because its effectiveness wanes over time, something medical experts dispute. Kennedy's remarks came during a press event Tuesday with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. The event, titled Make Indiana Healthy Again, touted steps the state was taking to improve health. (Alltucker, 4/15)
Politico:
‘Whole Generation Of Kids Is Damaged’: RFK Jr. Takes MAHA On The Road
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz took the Make America Healthy Again movement on the road Tuesday, reveling in their power to shape public health in an appearance riddled with false statements and dubious claims. Kennedy, the Health and Human Services secretary, spoke of the current “crisis” of chronic disease, autism and reminisced about his childhood years when rates of diseases such as diabetes were significantly lower. (Wren and Brown, 4/15)
MedPage Today:
RFK Jr. Says The Medical System Has 'Perverse Incentives' For Doctors
HHS is trying to change the "perverse incentives" in the medical system, including the way doctors are paid, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday. "A lot of the negative behavior and self-destructive behavior in both the medical system -- how we pay for healthcare -- and how we eat is driven by perverse incentives," Kennedy said at a press conference at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis. "Today, we have a healthcare system that reimburses doctors and hospitals for procedures rather than for health outcomes. We have to change that." (Frieden, 4/15)
Also —
CIDRAP:
US Political Conservatives Have Deep, Unbudging Suspicion Of Science, Survey Suggests
A University of Amsterdam study concludes that politically conservative Americans are more skeptical of science than previously thought, including that from fields that contribute to the economic growth and productivity they typically value. The findings, published yesterday in Nature Human Behaviour, were based on the survey responses of 7,800 US adults on their views on 35 different scientific fields such as anthropology, biology, and atomic physics by political leaning. (Van Beusekom, 4/15)
