From the start, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has been one of the most controversial Cabinet picks in the current administration. His longstanding anti-vaccine rhetoric and vocal opposition to science-backed expert consensus has caused widespread concern among public health and medical professionals about the appropriateness of his leadership. Senators, both Democrats and Republicans, echoed such doubts during his confirmation hearings.
In the eight hours that senators grilled Kennedy on his policy positions, one recurring theme emerged: deep skepticism and hesitancy to confirm him because of his anti-vaccine past. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), physician and chair of the Senate HELP Committee said, “Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me.”
Fact: Kennedy has repeatedly contradicted the overwhelming scientific consensus, backed by extensive research, that asserts that there is no link between vaccines and autism. Just two years ago Kennedy said in a Fox News interview that, “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective,” yet insisted during his Senate Confirmation Hearing that he has “never been anti-vaxx.”
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Fact: Kennedy made promises during his hearing that convinced enough senators – even a hesitant Cassidy – that his prior anti-vax sentiments wouldn’t interfere with policymaking to defend American health. However, just over six months into his tenure, this wishful thinking has washed away. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views are aggressively and negatively influencing policymaking, resulting in alarming real-world impact.
Fact: In June, Kennedy fired the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) en masse and replaced them with his own hand-picked, anti-vaccine allies. The new ACIP then recommended thimerosal be removed from vaccines, a safe ingredient that Kennedy long targeted, using it to undermine vaccine confidence based on hocus-pocus data.
Result? American parents are increasingly unsure of whether to vaccinate their children. The Wall Street Journal recently covered how parents are feeling emboldened, now more than ever, to opt out of routine childhood vaccinations. This is happening amidst a 33-year high in measles cases in the United States – a vaccine-preventable disease. The resurgence of a disease declared eliminated in the US in 2000 is a stark regression for America and driven in part by the nation’s health leadership. What’s next, polio?
Current research and scientific evidence continue to support the safety of vaccines. A recent Danish study found that aluminum ingredients in vaccines do not increase health risks for children, after researching 1.2 million children over two decades. Childhood vaccination experts are calling this study the best available evidence on the safety of aluminum in vaccines. Yet Kennedy is working to dismiss the study by calling it “a deceitful propaganda stunt.” His statement is based in rhetoric, rather than evidence — on both pride and prejudice.
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A public health leader who actively disparages and disregards expert scientific consensus is not a public health leader working for the betterment of public health. Under the leadership of a vaccine skeptic, we’ve seen falling vaccination rates, preventable disease outbreaks, and the dismissal of scientific research — all with disastrous implications for American health. If Kennedy cannot face up to reality, for the safety of Americans, it may be time for new leadership.
Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Peter J. Pitts is President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a Visiting Professor at the University of Paris School of Medicine. He is a former Associate Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration and member of the United States Senior Executive Service.
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