Health experts took to one of the country’s leading medical journals to pen searing rebukes of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first weeks as the country’s top health official—and they called upon their colleagues to rise up to fight the misinformation and distrust they allege Kennedy, a long-time anti-vaccine advocate, is fomenting.
From gutting federal health agencies and knee-capping critical local public health programs, to delaying a significant vaccine advisory meeting, hiring a discredited anti-vaccine advocate to conduct a vaccine study, ousting the country’s top vaccine regulator, and undermining the response to the mushrooming measles outbreak in Texas that stands to threaten the country’s measles elimination status—the researchers had no shortage of complaints.
In one article, pediatric infectious disease expert Kathryn Edwards of Vanderbilt University recounted the timeline of the measles outbreak, noting the missteps, missed opportunities, and controversial comments Kennedy made along the way. The rundown included his trivialization of the outbreak, failure to strongly advocate for vaccination, promotion of unproven treatments, like cod liver oil, and delayed responses from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Kennedy controls.
The debacle indicates that researchers and health officials may no longer be able to rely on the CDC for timely guidance and evidence-based recommendations, she wrote. And if so, the medical and science communities need to step up and fill the void.
Revolt brews against RFK Jr. as experts pen rally cries in top medical journal
