Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
How Could RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Skepticism Hurt The US? Just Ask Samoa.
The Washington Post: Global Health Experts Sound Alarm Over RFK Jr., Citing Samoa Outbreak
Health officials around the world are alarmed over the likely impact of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a longtime vaccine skeptic who was tapped for the health secretary role this week — on global health. Experts from Samoa have been particularly vocal in sounding the alarm, citing the destructive impact of Kennedy’s rhetoric on the tiny Polynesian island nation. Warning that Kennedy will empower the global anti-vaccine movement and may advocate for reduced funding for international agencies, Aiono Prof Alec Ekeroma, the director general of health for Samoa’s Health Ministry told The Washington Post that Kennedy “will be directly responsible for killing thousands of children around the world by allowing preventable infectious diseases to run rampant.” (Westfall and Sun, 11/15)
Stat: At HHS, RFK Jr. Could Strip Vaccine Manufacturers Of Legal Protection
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, has criticized laws that provide companies that make vaccines with protections from lawsuits. If he takes office, he has broad power to strip those protections, experts told STAT. Most routine vaccines have had protections from lawsuits for nearly 40 years, and vaccines developed to address emergencies have enjoyed protections for 20. For the most part, the programs have been uncontroversial. (Zhang, 11/15)
Bloomberg: Caroline Kennedy Calls Cousin RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Views Dangerous
US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy described her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s views on vaccinations as “dangerous,” the latest public rebuke by a senior member of the storied family against the man Donald Trump has tapped for a key Cabinet post. Ambassador Kennedy said Monday that her uncle, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, had spent 50 years “fighting for affordable health care” in the US Senate. “It’s something that our whole family is so proud of,” she said. “I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure, and has the greatest admiration for the medical profession in our country, and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views,” she added. (Westcott, 11/17)
CBS News: Dr. Deborah Birx Says She Is "Excited" For Data-Driven Discussions In RFK Jr.'s Confirmation Hearings
Dr. Deborah Birx, former White House Coronavirus response coordinator, said Sunday she is "excited" for the data on key health issues that will surface in Senate confirmation hearings for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's controversial pick for Health and Human secretary who has spread false information on vaccines and autism. "I'm actually excited that in a Senate hearing he would bring forward his data and the questions that come from the senators would bring forth their data," Birx said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." (Maguire, 11/17)
More on RFK Jr.'s potential impact —
Modern Healthcare: How RFK Jr.'s HHS Might Run Medicare And Medicaid
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a famous name and infamous views on vaccines, COVID-19 and other health issues. But the would-be Health and Human Services secretary is a virtual stranger to the healthcare sector. The former independent presidential candidate is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead a department that regulates every aspect of healthcare and distributes more than $1 trillion a year in payments to providers and health insurance companies. Yet Kennedy's views on Medicare, Medicaid, the health insurance exchanges and other crucial programs are mostly unknown. (Early and McAuliff, 11/15)
The New York Times: RFK Jr.'s Vow To Take On Big Food Could Face Resistance
Boxes of brightly colored breakfast cereals, vivid orange Doritos and dazzling blue M&Ms may find themselves under attack in the new Trump administration. In excoriating such grocery store staples and their mysterious ingredients, Robert F. Kennedy tapped into a zeitgeist of widening appeal for healthy foods to curb obesity and disease that helped propel President-elect Donald J. Trump to select him to oversee the country’s vast health agency. (Jewett and Creswell, 11/15)
CNN: Doctors Say RFK Jr.’s Anti-Ozempic Stance Perpetuates Stigma And Misrepresents Evidence
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged to tackle high rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. They’re goals that many in the public health world find themselves agreeing with — despite fearing what else the infamous anti-vaccine activist may do in the post. Just don’t suggest that he tackle those goals with medications like Ozempic. (Tirrell, 11/17)
KFF Health News: What To Know About RFK Jr.'s Stances On Key Health Issues And What He Could Do At HHS
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is coming into the nomination process in an unusual position, with a long list of his own policy priorities separate from the president-elect’s, and a public promise by Trump to let him “go wild” on his ideas. (Gounder, 11/15)
KFF Health News and Politifact: Does Fluoride Cause Cancer, IQ Loss, And More? Fact-Checking Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Claims
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration could try to remove fluoride from drinking water, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy, who was tapped last week by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, called fluoride an “industrial waste” and linked it to cancer and other diseases and disorders while campaigning for Trump. (Putterman, 11/18)
In other Cabinet picks, Trump takes aim at internet censorship —
The Washington Post: Trump Picks Brendan Carr As FCC Chairman
President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday he was naming Brendan Carr as the next Federal Communications Commission chairman, positioning the regulatory agency to do battle against social media companies and TV broadcasters that Republicans portray as too liberal. ... One issue on which Carr has been out of step with Trump is TikTok, which the president-elect has said he will “save” from a looming nationwide ban. Carr, an outspoken China hawk, has repeatedly called TikTok a danger to national security and has supported banning the app. (Dou and Lima-Strong, 11/17)
