Posts

RFK Jr. May Roll Back Major Trump-Era COVID-19 Vaccine “Achievement”

/1 Comment/in , /by

President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are allegedly considering a plan to ban COVID-19 vaccines “within months,” according to an associate of Kennedy’s. The move would represent a reversal of what Trump previously called a “monumental achievement” during his administration.

Trump said in December 2020 that the development of the vaccine under Operation Warp Speed was a “historic” success, crediting doctors, scientists, pharmaceutical executives, and government leaders for expediting the process during the height of the pandemic. The vaccines were later met with criticism from segments of Trump’s political base, along with ongoing questions about their efficacy and safety.

Kennedy, who has faced scrutiny for past statements on vaccine safety, announced earlier this month that HHS would withdraw $500 million in federal funding for 22 mRNA vaccine development projects. He said the decision was based on data showing the vaccines “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.” Kennedy has maintained he is not “anti-vaccine.”

An HHS spokesperson told Newsweek the agency does not comment on potential policy decisions. The White House dismissed claims that the administration plans to end COVID vaccine access.

“The Administration is relying on Gold Standard Science and is committed to radical transparency to make decisions that affect all Americans,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said Monday. “Unless announced by the Administration, however, any discussion about HHS policy should be dismissed as baseless speculation.”

Kennedy’s associate, cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, linked the possible shift in policy to a 2022 research paper published in the journal Vaccine. The paper reported a secondary analysis of clinical trial data for Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines and found that vaccinated adults showed a 16 percent higher risk of “excess serious adverse events” compared to those who received a placebo.

The White House has not indicated that any formal changes to vaccine policy are under consideration.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

RFK Jr. Tells Tucker Carlson Fellow Cabinet Member Has Undergone ‘Incredible Transformation’

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson during a Monday interview that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has significantly shifted his foreign policy stance.

Rubio had developed a reputation for being a foreign policy hawk, but as he grew closer to President Donald Trump during the 2024 election cycle, his views evolved to become more aligned with Trump’s America First foreign policy agenda. Kennedy, on “The Tucker Carlson Show,” said he previously disapproved of Rubio because of his hawkishness, but he now believes the secretary of state has similar views to his own, including on Ukraine.

“Marco Rubio is the funniest guy in the cabinet. He says things that make people belly laugh at every cabinet meeting,” Kennedy said. “I never was very — let’s say — approving of Marco, because he was kind of a neocon war hawk. But now he’s had this incredible transformation.”

“I think he’s very aligned with me on most issues, on Ukraine, you know, and just the fact that we should not be the policeman of the world anymore, that we’ve got to, you know, we’ve got to withdraw from that,” he continued. (Read more from “RFK Jr. Tells Tucker Carlson Fellow Cabinet Member Has Undergone ‘Incredible Transformation’” HERE)

RFK Jr. Guts CDC Vaccine Panel, ‘Retiring’ All 17 Members

/0 Comments/in , /by

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Monday that he’s gutting the panel that advises on vaccination safety and efficacy, arguing that it’s another step toward restoring public trust.

Kennedy, whose department has already made several moves to shake up vaccination research and recommendations, said he’s “retiring” all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, known as ACIP.

“Today, we are taking a bold step in restoring public trust by totally reconstituting the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP),” RFK said in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. “We are retiring the 17 current members of the committee, some of whom were last-minute appointees of the Biden administration.”

Kennedy said he had to remove these panel members or the Trump administration wouldn’t be able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028.

RFK Jr. suggested the panel effectively works as a rubber-stamp and is plagued with conflicts of interest. (Read more from “RFK Jr. Guts CDC Vaccine Panel, ‘Retiring’ All 17 Members” HERE)

RFK Jr. Tells Doctors to Discard Unscientific Guidelines Promoting Child Gender Transitions

/1 Comment/in , /by

The Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to health care providers urging them to discard discredited research on child gender transitions.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy told health care providers, risk managers, and state medical boards to heed his department’s recent review of child sex changes, which determined the irreversible procedures can cause significant harm, including sterilization.

“The Hippocratic Oath lays down the foundational commitment for the medical profession: ‘First, do no harm,’” Kennedy wrote. “The Review makes clear that ‘the evidence for benefit of pediatric medical transition is very uncertain, while the evidence for harm is less uncertain.’ For this reason, the Review states that when ‘medical interventions pose unnecessary, disproportionate risks of harm, healthcare providers should refuse to offer them even when they are preferred, requested, or demanded by patients.’”

Providers should disregard the “World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People,” Kennedy said.

WPATH, a controversial organization that transgender advocates and health agencies use to justify transgender medical interventions, frames itself as the leading expert organization on medical care for people who identify as transgender. It has faced criticism for advocating experimental practices that ignore serious concerns about informed consent and long-term side effects.

RFK Jr. Brings Receipts, Drops Fact Check on Purple-Haired Dem During Hearing

/3 Comments/in , , /by

Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought receipts to correct Democrat Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro on the measles outbreaks around the world.

While questioning whether his agency is cutting funding for “life saving” research conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH), DeLauro suggested that the U.S. has higher cases of measles than other countries. Kennedy told the Democrat congresswoman that she is “wrong,” pointing to the comparable number of outbreaks in Canada, Mexico and parts of Western Europe.

“The Europe you are referring to is the WHO European region, which has 53 countries in Europe and in Asia, including those with low vaccination rates like Romania that has never eliminated measles. If you compare us to Western European countries that we often compare ourselves to like Great Britain, they have seen no measles deaths this year,” DeLauro said.

“Let me address your issue first, because I want to correct you,” Kennedy said. “We have about 1,100 measles cases in this country. The growth rate last year was 15 additional, so we have plateaued. Mexico has roughly the same number, but one-third of our population and they got 300 extra cases last week. Canada has more measles, 1,500, they have one-eighth of our population. Western Europe has about 6,000 which is ten times the number that we have. You are wrong about what you said earlier.”

(Read more from “RFK Jr. Brings Receipts, Drops Fact Check on Purple-Haired Dem During Hearing” HERE)

Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Arrested For Stunt During RFK Testimony

/0 Comments/in , /by

Several protesters were tackled and arrested by Capitol Police on Wednesday, after they screamed and interrupted testimony from Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before the Senate Health Committee.

Among the protesters who were arrested was Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen. It’s unclear what he was protesting regarding Kennedy, but other protesters had signs that called RFK “anti-vaccine” or said, “RFK Lies, People with AIDS Die.”

As video footage below shows, Kennedy and others in the room were startled when the protesters screamed to interrupt the secretary’s opening statement. Some are heard yelling, “RFK kills people with hate!” Quickly, Capitol Police stepped in to remove the protesters, some by force.

WATCH:

Cohen was arrested for obstruction, according to authorities, Fox News reported on Wednesday. Six others were arrested, as well. (Read more from “Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Arrested For Stunt During RFK Testimony” HERE)

FDA and RFK Jr. Seek to Eliminate Fluoride Supplements for Children’s Dental Health

/0 Comments/in , /by

U.S. health regulators announced plans Tuesday to phase out fluoride-containing supplements sometimes used to strengthen children’s teeth, opening a new front in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s effort against a mainstay of dental care.

The Food and Drug Administration said it will conduct a scientific review of the products by late October with the aim of removing them from the market. It was not immediately clear whether the agency planned to formally ban the supplements or simply request that companies withdraw them.

The products targeted by the FDA are sometimes recommended for children and teens who are at increased risk of tooth decay or cavities because of low fluoride in their local drinking water. They usually require a prescription from a pediatrician or dentist. Fluoride-based tablets and lozenges are designed to be chewed or swallowed. Companies also sell drops for babies and infants. (Read more from “FDA and RFK Jr. Seek to Eliminate Fluoride Supplements for Children’s Dental Health” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

RFK Jumps to Defense of New Trump Nominee That Surprisingly Angered MAHA Supporters

/0 Comments/in , /by

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leapt to the defense of President Donald Trump’s new Surgeon General pick Dr. Casey Means on Thursday after she faced mounting scrutiny from all sides of the political spectrum.

Means, who Trump tapped Wednesday after pulling his previous surgeon general nomination, is a Stanford Medical School-educated doctor and sibling of fierce Kennedy ally Calley Means.

But Means is facing a swell of scrutiny for, among other things, leaving her medical residency early.

Means left her residency at Oregon Health & Science University in her fifth year, becoming disillusioned with the medical system’s reflexive impulse to medicate, she explained in the book she co-wrote with Calley Means, “Good Energy.”

“It was increasingly becoming clear to me that although I was surrounded by practitioners who got into medicine to help patients, the reality is that every institution that impacts health – from medical schools to insurance companies to hospitals to pharma companies – makes money on ‘managing’ disease, not curing patients,” she wrote. (Read more from “RFK Jumps to Defense of New Trump Nominee That Surprisingly Angered MAHA Supporters” HERE)

RFK Jr. Says Diabetes, Chronic Illnesses Pose ‘Existential Threat’ — Not Measles Outbreak: ‘Should Be Getting the Headlines’

/0 Comments/in , /by

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argued Wednesday that the media should pay more attention to diabetes and autism –- not measles outbreaks –- as an “existential threat” to the nation’s health.

“I want to say this, we’ve had four measles deaths in this country in 20 years. We have 100,000 autism cases a year. We have 38% of our kids now are diabetic or pre-diabetic. That should be in the headlines,” the HHS head said at a NewsNation town hall hosted by Chris Cuomo.

Kennedy said the media “never” covers the rates of autism or diabetes increasing, and they “only want to cover measles.”

“What I’ve been saying to people is, let’s pay attention to other illnesses as well, the illnesses that are really, really damaging our country, that are existential for our country.”

“Seventy-four percent of our kids cannot qualify for military service, so this is an existential threat to our national security,” the HHS secretary explained of the risks of rising chronic disease. (Read more from “RFK Jr. Says Diabetes, Chronic Illnesses Pose ‘Existential Threat’ — Not Measles Outbreak: ‘Should Be Getting the Headlines’” HERE)

RFK Jr. To Ban Petroleum-Based Food Dyes

/1 Comment/in , /by

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to direct food manufacturers to phase out eight petroleum-based food dyes from cereals, sports drinks, and other grocery staples by the end of 2026.

The directive, expected to be announced in full detail on Tuesday, affects hundreds of thousands of grocery store items containing eight petroleum-based dyes, which health experts have long criticized for potentially causing hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in children, according to a New York Times report.

The eight dyes being targeted include Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 3, and Orange B, according to details provided by HHS officials to the Times.

Food industry experts estimate that the reformulation costs could reach into the billions, though many companies have already developed alternative formulations for their European and Canadian products.

FDA Commissioner Martin Makary signaled the move as being in line with President Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, stating last week to the Times, “My feeling is, why gamble with the health of our children?” (Read more from “RFK Jr. To Ban Petroleum-Based Food Dyes” HERE)