Category Archives: Robert F Kennedy Jr

RFK Jr urges medical schools to increase nutrition education training

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As part of his Maha agenda, health secretary wants schools to incorporate 40 hours of instruction

Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr unveiled a new effort on Thursday aimed at increasing the amount of nutrition education taught in medical schools.

For months, Kennedy has urged medical schools to expand their nutrition curriculum and warned that institutions refusing to do so could face cuts to federal funding, while those that adopt the changes may receive public acknowledgment.

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‘Viruses don’t know borders’: US anti-vaccine rhetoric could impact global measles crisis

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Experts say global measles vaccination rates are falling as Trump officials signal a deprioritization of the virus

The US government has amplified anti-vaccine rhetoric and signaled that it does not consider measles to be a priority, which could have global ramifications as countries around the world have lost or are on the brink of losing measles elimination status.

The World Health Organization announced in late January that six European countries: the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan had all officially lost their measles elimination status, which means the virus has been circulating continuously in those countries for more than 12 months. In order to contain measles, at least 95% of children should be fully vaccinated against it, according to health recommendations, but vaccination rates have been falling across Europe.

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US anti-vax stance to blame for continent-wide surge in measles, say experts

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The disease was eliminated across the Americas in 2024, but urgent vaccination drives are now under way as cases rise from Mexico to Bolivia after outbreaks farther north

Governments across Latin America are stepping up efforts to vaccinate their populations against measles, as outbreaks in North America drive a 34-fold increase in the number of cases reported in the region this year.

Measles cases have surged worldwide to a 25-year high, due to low vaccine coverage and the spread of misinformation about vaccine safety. However, there is added concern in parts of Latin America over unequal access to healthcare and the worrying situation in the US, which is facing its worst measles outbreak in decades following a reversal of vaccine policy led by Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

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Trump rails against Tylenol but autism claims not supported by science

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President’s announcement latest move in campaign that seeks to valorize the ‘natural’ – often at women’s expense

Donald Trump has, allegedly, found “the answer to autism”: Tylenol.

On Monday, Trump announced that pregnant women should dramatically limit their use of acetaminophen, known by the brand name Tylenol or internationally as paracetamol, because, he claimed, it raises the risk of autism.

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US health officials plan to revisit vaccine policies using anti-vax tactics, experts warn

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Data public health experts say is worrisome will reportedly be presented to ACIP later this week before vote on shots

US health officials are reportedly planning to release data on child deaths and serious side effects they would attribute to Covid-19 vaccines, raising alarm among public health experts who say the publicly available data does not support these claims and the report may lead to increased anti-vaccine sentiment.

Independent advisers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later this week plan to revisit recommendations for Covid shots as well as vaccines for measles and hepatitis B.

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Critics decry White House’s Maha report on chronic illnesses in children

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Report omits limiting pesticides and ultra-processed foods even as RFK Jr pledges to fight against childhood obesity

The Trump administration released its second Make America Healthy Again (Maha) report, this time on chronic illnesses in children, confirming a leaked report from last month that the administration would stop short of proposing direct restrictions on pesticides and ultra-processed foods.

On Tuesday, the Make America Healthy Again commission published a 20-page report that attempts a balance for the priorities of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s supporters with the interests of influential farming corporations. It also urges an overhaul of the nation’s vaccine injury system and tighter oversight of certain prescriptions.

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Trump’s former surgeon general urges president to fire RFK Jr

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Jerome Adams cites vaccine policy and chaos at CDC and joins other officials in saying Kennedy is risking US health

The surgeon general from the first Trump administration on Saturday said that the US president should “absolutely” fire health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr over his “dangerous” policies on vaccines and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Jerome Adams, who has become a pointed critic of the controversial public health decisions being swiftly rolled out in the second Trump administration, made his most fierce attack yet on what has been unfolding.

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Bernie Sanders demands that RFK Jr step down as health secretary

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Vermont senator says Kennedy is endangering the health of the American people as head of the US health department

Bernie Sanders has joined in on growing public calls for Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, to resign, after recent chaos across US health agencies.

In an op-ed published in the New York Times on Saturday, the Vermont senator accused Kennedy of “endangering the health of the American people now and into the future”, adding: “He must resign.”

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Backlash as White House chooses Robert F Kennedy Jr deputy to run CDC – US politics live

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Senators’ fury at developments at US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as Jim O’Neill picked to replace Susan Monarez

Nearly 1,000 “worker over billionaire” protests are being planned in all 50 states starting this weekend as part of a Labor Day week of action organized by labor unions and advocacy groups in opposition to the Trump administration’s policies.

The actions include marches and rallies in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, a Labor Day parade in New York City, rallies in Palmer, Alaska, Freeport, Maine, and a planned protest at the state capitol in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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US health agency workers accuse RFK Jr of fueling violence against them

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Over 750 workers in a letter said HHS secretary’s rhetoric played a role in recent attack at CDC’s Atlanta headquarters

More than 750 current and former federal health employees on Wednesday accused health and human services (HHS) secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr of fueling harassment and violence directed at government healthcare staff.

In a letter sent to Kennedy and members of Congress, the group accuses RFK Jr of contributing to “the harassment and violence experienced by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff”, citing decisions such as removing members from a CDC vaccine advisory panel, questioning the safety of the measles vaccine, and firing key CDC staff as actions that sow distrust in federal medical professionals.

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Vinay Prasad returns to FDA days after leaving under pressure from Laura Loomer

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Prasad left the agency after far-right influencer released edited audio misleadingly suggesting he was anti-Trump

Vinay Prasad is returning to his role overseeing vaccine, gene therapy and blood product regulation at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a little more than a week after he left the agency.

“At the FDA’s request, Dr Vinay Prasad is resuming leadership of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research,” Department Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement to Reuters.

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Shares in European drug companies hit four-month low as Trump tariffs loom

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President repeats threat to bring in levies ‘within next week or so’ in attempt to get companies to move production to US

Shares in European pharmaceutical companies have sunk to a four-month low, after Donald Trump repeated his threats to introduce tariffs on drug imports “within the next week or so”.

Europe’s Stoxx Health Care index slid by 2.8% on Wednesday, falling to its lowest level since mid-April, shortly after the US president’s initial “liberation day” tariff announcements.

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Top medical body concerned over RFK Jr’s reported plans to cut preventive health panel

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American Medical Association writes to health secretary after reports he aims to overhaul taskforce for being ‘woke’

A top US medical body has expressed “deep concern” to Robert F Kennedy Jr over news reports that the health secretary plans to overhaul a panel that determines which preventive health measures including cancer screenings should be covered by insurance companies.

The letter from the the American Medical Association comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Kennedy plans to overhaul the 40-year old US Preventive Services Task Force because he regards them as too “woke”, according to sources familiar with the matter.

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Health experts raise alarm over RFK Jr’s ‘war on science’ amid mass firings and budget cuts

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Experts warn that the dangerous ideologically driven cuts at HHS will have long-term consequences for healthcare

The Trump administration’s “war on science” appears to have entered a new phase in the aftermath of a recent supreme court decision that empowered health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a prominent vaccine sceptic, and other agency leaders, to implement mass firings – effectively greenlighting the politicization of science.

The decision comes as Kennedy abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting of a key health care advisory panel, the US Preventive Services Task Force, earlier this month. That, combined with his recent removal of a panel of more than a dozen vaccine advisers, signals that his dismantling of the science-based policymaking at HHS is likely far from over.

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Kennedy touts ultra-processed meals he once called ‘poison’

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Health secretary backs company criticized for selling junk-laden meals to Medicaid patients on ‘Make America healthy again’ tour

Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr promoted a company whose meals contain ultra-processed ingredients – which he has repeatedly railed against – on his “Make America healthy again” tour.

Kennedy appeared at an enormous food plant in Oklahoma for a company called Mom’s Meals, which makes 1.5m “medically tailored” meals each week and ships them all over the country.

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CDC vaccine report cites study that does not exist, says scientist listed as author

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Robert Berman, cited in report on preservative thimerosal, says he ‘doesn’t endorse this misrepresentation of research’

A review on the use of the preservative thimerosal in vaccines slated to be presented on Thursday to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) outside vaccine committee cites a study that does not exist, the scientist listed as the study’s author said.

The report, called Thimerosal as a Vaccine Preservative published on the CDC website on Tuesday, is to be presented by Lyn Redwood, a former leader of the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense.

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RFK Jr and Dr Oz announce insurers’ ‘pledge’ to reform prior authorization

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Health secretary and chief of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid hail voluntary agreement as a ‘good start’

The US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and Dr Mehmet Oz announced a voluntary agreement with insurance companies to change prior authorization practices – where private health insurers require patients to ask for permission before they can receive medical treatment.

The majority of Americans receive health insurance through a private company, whether through an employer, or a privatization of public health insurance programs, such as Medicare Advantage.

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Key RFK Jr advisers stand to profit from a new federal health initiative

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The Maha campaign seeks to warn Americans of the dangers of ultra-processed foods

Federal health officials are seeking to launch a “bold, edgy” public service campaign to warn Americans of the dangers of ultra-processed foods in social media, transit ads, billboards and even text messages.

And they potentially stand to profit off the results.

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CDC vaccine panel to review ingredient RFK Jr has targeted for removal

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ACIP panel to discuss influenza vaccines that contain thimerosal, which Kennedy called ‘dangerous’ in 2014 book

A key vaccine advisory panel reconstituted by health secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr is slated to discuss thimerosal-containing influenza vaccines in its first meeting – an ingredient which has been a fixation of anti-vaccine activists for decades.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will hold two separate votes later this month: one on “influenza vaccines” and one on influenza vaccines that contain thimerosal.

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CDC official in charge of Covid data resigns ahead of vaccine meeting

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Fiona Havers says she does not have confidence data will be use to make ‘evidence-based vaccine policy decisions’

The scientist responsible for overseeing the CDC team that collects data on Covid and RSV hospitalizations resigned on Monday.

Dr Fiona Havers told colleagues in an email that she no longer had confidence the data would be used “objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions”, according to Reuters.

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