Conspiracy Theory Lover RFK Jr. to lead HHS
Anticipate a wild, dangerous reshaping of US public health
While it makes me want to gouge my eyes out to tell you this, President-elect Donald Trump has made good on his plans to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This critical role oversees 29 federal offices and agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Indian Health Services (IHS), and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
Among physicians and public health experts, Kennedy is despised for his profoundly anti-science views on vaccines and public health policies.
PolitiFact awarded Kennedy’s presidential campaign the 2023 Lie of the Year for spouting the most outrageous amount of misinformation.
Conspiracy Theories, Wellness Ladies & RFK
In the Spring of 2023, my best friend and I took a road trip to Arizona - our first opportunity to see each other since the onset of the pandemic. We’d missed each other’s 40th birthdays and wanted to find a way to make up for lost time while remaining COVID-cautious. We share a mixture of being both super sciency (I’m a physician, and she’s a math professor) and a little crunchy granola (we were both raised by hippies in Los Angeles). We enjoyed hiking the Grand Canyon and stargazing in Flagstaff, with more hiking and outdoor eating in Sedona.
Sedona is a New Age, alternative health magnet of a town. Driving through the ancient red rock formations, there are plenty of opportunities to buy outrageously expensive energy crystals, hire a psychic, and have your aura photographed. Many people believe the town is a spiritual source of energy, and in the 1970s, a psychic named Page Bryant popularized the now ubiquitous belief in energy vortexes.
After a long hike in Red Rock State Park, we were famished. We’d heard great things about the delicious food at one of Sedona’s super hippy restaurants with a sprawling outdoor garden - perfect for dining. As our platter of vegetables and trio of rustic hummuses arrived, so did a proud, super oud group of late middle-aged RFK Jr.-loving white ladies. They sat at a table beside us, toned and tanned, decked out in RFK Jr t-shirts and buttons, paired with an assortment of yoga pants, gossamer BoHo skirts, and Tevas.
RFK Jr had announced his presidential run, leaning on his father (Senator Robert F. Kennedy) and his uncle’s (President John F. Kennedy) legacies with vintage 1960s-era throwback symbolism. These ladies - probably children in the 60s, saw RFK as a messiah for American health - someone who would clean up the environment and put a stop to “all this pandemic business.” The loudest lady was openly opposed to COVID vaccination, referring to it as poison and to masking, seeing it as an offensive threat to her personal freedom.
Overhearing their babble, I thought of all the work I’d done with other advocates to get vaccine access for disabled Californians and children. I flashed back to the ethics consults I’d done where I had to help families understand over Zoom that their previous hale and healthy loved one now had lungs, now too lacey from COVID damage, to survive.
I gritted my teeth and couldn’t wait to get out of Sedona, no matter how gorgeous the vistas or how tasty the food.
It was clear that RFK Jr wasn’t a serious contender for the Presidency. Still, I could see the fervent support he was building among people who considered themselves health-conscious and with growing anti-establishment views. Later that same year, the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting warned of the radicalization pipeline as Sedona wellness circles overlapped with far-right sovereignty ideology.
As one of the top misinformation and disinformation purveyors in America, RFK Jr was the perfect candidate to collect health conspiracy-curious voters - on the right and the left.
I knew RFK Jr. would continue to be a problem for American public health, but until recently, I hadn’t believed even Trump would put him in such a massive role.
Who Is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.?
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is an environmental attorney and anti-vaccine activist. Over the past two decades, he has become a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement, frequently asserting unsubstantiated and disproven links between vaccines and various health issues in children.
In 2021, the Center for Countering Digital Hate identified RFK Jr as one of 12 digital accounts making up the “Disinformation Dozen.” These few accounts fueled the vast majority of online misinformation and disinformation about vaccination on social media.
Kennedy's organization, the so-called Children's Health Defense, has been at the forefront of promoting anti-vaccine misinformation. The organization was quite fringe until Kennedy joined the board and facilitated a re-brand in 2015, amplifying their message and drawing in massive amounts of funding.
His anti-vaccine advocacy contributed to an alarming 2019 measles outbreak in Somoa, infecting thousands and killing 83 people, mostly children.
MAHA: Make America Healthy Again?
Kennedy adopted the MAGA-adjacent slogan "Make America Healthy Again," advocating for a comprehensive dismantling of the nation's health policies. His proposals include nationalizing his anti-vaccine rhetoric, eliminating certain chemicals from food and water supplies (such as fluoride), and challenging established public health practices.
“If you’re resigned to thinking that it’s okay for people to decide to drink raw milk, remove fluoride from the water supply, or ban vaccines, then you have to remember that this will affect kids who can’t advocate for themselves.”
- pediatric allergist Dr. Zachary Rubin
While RFK Jr frames these initiatives as efforts to improve public health, his plans lack scientific evidence and are grounded in years of conspiracy theories. He consistently undermines proven health interventions.
Joining Trump
In August 2024, RFK Jr. formally ended his presidential bid and endorsed Trump after weeks of backchannel negotiations. Their shared skepticism toward certain public health measures and regulatory agencies facilitated this partnership, saying, "we are aligned on many key issues.” Trump has expressed confidence in Kennedy's vision, stating he will have significant autonomy in shaping health policies.
RFK’s followers, sharing the anti-establishment rhetoric of the Republican campaign, were easily pulled to vote for Trump and other Republican candidates.
Major Bioethics Concerns Regarding Kennedy's Potential Role
1. Supercharging Vaccine Misinformation
Vaccines are one of the most important, life-saving, and pain- and disability-preventing public health interventions. For years, Kennedy has been a leading, outspoken voice in vaccine misinformation. He continues to promote the long-debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. He falsely claimed the COVID-19 vaccine was linked to suspicious deaths. His advocacy group produced a film to target disinformation at Black Americans. He claimed vaccine research led to the 1918 influenza outbreak and HIV. He has publicly stated that he does not believe any vaccines are safe and effective.
Kennedy's longstanding opposition to vaccines raises fears of reduced vaccination rates, likely leading to the resurgence of preventable diseases. This is going to hit kids particularly hard.
After 10 years of adequate childhood vaccination to reduce the risk of outbreaks, America is slipping. Since 2021, the national vaccination rate among kindergartners declined from 95% to less than 93% for diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination. This means we have a population primed for more outbreaks of preventable diseases.
2. Dismantling Health Agencies
Kennedy frequently criticized agencies like the NIH, CDC, and FDA, accusing them of being compromised by pharmaceutical interests.
In an interview on MSNBC, RFK Jr stated, “In some categories … there are entire departments, like the nutrition department at the FDA … that have to go, that are not doing their job, they’re not protecting our kids.”
The NIH plays a fundamental role in arguably every aspect of biomedical research, shaping countless scientific careers. RKF intends to replace 600 NIH employees. He plans to devote half of the agency’s funding to researching alternative medicine.
The current CDC director points out that sharing misinformation from a position of power compounds the danger.
I’m worried RFK', Jr.’s aggressively antagonistic view of these organizations will dramatically weaken them, compromising their ability to effectively manage public health crises (which the pandemic demonstrated are already insufficient), our food safety, and the future of scientific research in America.
3. Beyond Removing Fluoride from Water
Kennedy's advocacy for alternative health interventions, such as removing fluoride from drinking water, is just the beginning. He’s claimed Wi-Fi causes cancer, that chemicals in water cause people to become transgender, and that antidepressant medications cause school shootings. He believes in drinking raw milk - despite the risk of serious infections.
Implementing such measures could reverse decades of public health progress and expose populations to increased health risks.
4. Danger for Transgender People
After an election constantly attacking transgender people’s lives and access to care, RFK Jr’s parroting of transphobic talking points is dangerous. He opposes gender-affirming care and hormone therapy for minors, aligning him with the conservative anti-trans agenda. This approach denies minors access to evidence-based care for years. He has referred to puberty blockers as “castration drugs,” which demonstrates his lack of understanding of these important medications.
I’m profoundly worried about my trans friends and patients of all ages.
5. Further Erosion of Public Trust in Public Health
Elevating a figure known for promoting health misinformation to a position of authority platforms and endorses his outrageous views. This will likely continue the erosion of public trust in health institutions and professionals, making it more challenging to implement effective health policies and interventions.
The prospective appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to oversee public health agencies marks a pivotal - and frankly terrifying - moment for America's health policy. While his supporters view this as an opportunity for reform, I worry that our public health infrastructure will be set up to crumble.
Resources
The Disinformation Dozen: Why Platforms Must Act on Twelve Leading Online Anti-Vaxxers. Center for Countering Digital Hate. March 24, 2021 View the PDF here.
Simonelli IS. “Experts warn of radicalization pipeline as Sedona wellness communities, anti-government groups share space.” Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. September 12, 2023. https://azcir.org/news/2023/09/12/sedona-radicalization-pipeline-ultimate-light-mission/
McCoy C. Anti-vaccination beliefs don’t follow the usual political polarization. The Conversation. August 23, 2017. https://theconversation.com/anti-vaccination-beliefs-dont-follow-the-usual-political-polarization-81001
COVID-19 Vaccine for People with Disabilities -In the News. Disability Rights California. March 15, 2021. https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/post/covid-19-vaccine-for-people-with-disabilities-in-the-news
Persad G, Burgart A, Largent E. Why the FDA was wrong to delay authorization of vaccines for kids under 5. Washington Post. February 17, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/17/why-fda-was-wrong-delay-authorization-vaccines-kids-under-5/
Burgart A, Trueger S. Vaccinate our kids: the youngest kids need emergency authorization for COVID vaccination. May 20, 2021. https://www.justsecurity.org/76548/vaccinate-our-kids/
Trump's Health Agenda: Abortion, RFK Jr., and the ACA. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/11/13/trump-health-abortion-rfk-aca/76088963007/
RFK Jr. is building a presidential campaign around conspiracy theories. NPR. July 13, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/07/13/1187272781/rfk-jr-kennedy-conspiracy-theories-social-media-presidential-campaign
The Future of Public Health Under Trump. The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/future-of-public-health-under-trump/
RFK Jr.'s Potential Role in Trump's Health Agencies. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4981959-trump-robert-kennedy-health-agencies/
RFK Jr. Discusses Health Policy Vision. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/11/06/nx-s1-5181197/rfk-jr-discusses-potential-role-in-the-trump-administration-and-health-policy-vision
Analyzing RFK Jr.'s Health Proposals. Roll Call. November 8, 2024. https://rollcall.com/2024/11/08/how-rfk-jr-s-health-proposals-would-stack-up-in-practice/
Seither R, Yusuf OB, Dramann D, et al. Coverage with Selected Vaccines and Exemption Rates Among Children in Kindergarten — United States, 2023–24 School Year. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024;73:925–932. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7341a3