QUACKS THERE GOES U$ HEALTHCARE
AS BAD AS IT IS, IT'S GOING TO GET WORSE
By AFP
November 8, 2024
Robert F. Kennedy Jr and President-elect Donald Trump, campaigning in Georgia in October -
By AFP
November 8, 2024
Robert F. Kennedy Jr and President-elect Donald Trump, campaigning in Georgia in October -
Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Anna Moneymaker
Lucie AUBOURG
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime conspiracy theorist and opponent of vaccines, now has the ear of President-elect Donald Trump to promote what he’s calling the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
It’s something of an unlikely alliance between the Kennedy family scion, once a celebrated environmental champion who called for prosecuting climate change deniers, and the returning Republican leader.
What they share, however, is a profound distrust of institutions. In the final stretch of the campaign, Trump announced that RFK Jr. would “have a big role in health care” if he won.
The announcement immediately raised alarm, given Kennedy’s reputation as a notorious vaccine skeptic.
Not long ago, though, Kennedy was a high-powered climate attorney and was even in the mix to become former president Barack Obama’s environment chief.
This makes him a complex figure, some experts say, who brings some valuable ideas to the table.
In recent days, he’s tried to reassure critics, telling NPR, “We’re not going to take vaccines away from anybody,” while adding, ominously, “We are going to make sure that Americans have good information.”
Kennedy has spent two decades promoting vaccine conspiracy theories, especially around Covid-19 shots — ironically, the very vaccines developed in record time under Trump’s first administration.
The nephew of the assassinated president John F. Kennedy, he was polling at around five percent of the popular vote before he withdrew to endorse Trump, to the dismay of his own family.
– MAHA –
Since then, the duo have been promoting the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, a play on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan — having reportedly approached Vice President Kamala Harris for a role, without success.
His mission: “to transform our nation’s food, fitness, air, water, soil, and medicine,” he said in a video, his voice unsteady due to a neurological condition.
“Our big priority will be to clean up the public health agencies,” he declared, naming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and more.
“Those agencies have become sock puppets for the industries that they’re supposed to regulate,” said the 70-year-old, echoing common progressive criticisms.
On X, he wrote: “If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.”
He has also stirred controversy by suggesting he would stop the addition of fluoride to tap water — a practice aimed at preventing cavities that the CDC considers one of the top 10 health achievements of the 20th century.
– Cabinet position? –
Will he serve as an advisor or even health secretary? With a Republican Senate majority, a cabinet confirmation is now possible.
At a recent rally, Trump said that Kennedy — once arrested for protesting the Keystone XL pipeline — won’t be involved in his “Drill, baby, drill” agenda.
But he will be responsible for “women’s health”, Trump said in an announcement that angered Democrats already frustrated by Republican-led abortion restrictions.
Yet RFK Jr.’s stance on reproductive rights defies easy categorization. This spring, he defended a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy at any stage, saying, “Ultimately, I don’t trust government to have jurisdiction over people’s bodies.”
He later revised his position, favoring a ban after fetal viability, around 24 weeks — the limit set by a Supreme Court ruling that held sway for half a century before it was overturned in 2022, thanks to Trump-appointed justices.
– Healthy eating –
Kennedy will also tackle the nation’s food health, a curious task considering Trump’s well-known affection for McDonald’s.
America must end its chronic disease epidemic, says Kennedy, focusing in particular on obesity. But he’s also a fan of raw milk, a practice health experts strongly discourage.
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy called for bringing prescription drug prices significantly down, citing the diabetes medication Ozempic — an issue championed by left wing Senator Bernie Sanders.
He also proposes preventing food stamp recipients from purchasing soda and ultra-processed foods, a policy “which I have advocated for the past 15 years,” Tom Frieden, CDC director under Obama, said in Stat News.
While agreeing with Kennedy’s focus on chronic disease, Frieden remains wary. “The MAHA combination of sound science, pseudo-science, and profiteering by so-called ‘wellness’ companies isn’t the answer.”
Lucie AUBOURG
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime conspiracy theorist and opponent of vaccines, now has the ear of President-elect Donald Trump to promote what he’s calling the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
It’s something of an unlikely alliance between the Kennedy family scion, once a celebrated environmental champion who called for prosecuting climate change deniers, and the returning Republican leader.
What they share, however, is a profound distrust of institutions. In the final stretch of the campaign, Trump announced that RFK Jr. would “have a big role in health care” if he won.
The announcement immediately raised alarm, given Kennedy’s reputation as a notorious vaccine skeptic.
Not long ago, though, Kennedy was a high-powered climate attorney and was even in the mix to become former president Barack Obama’s environment chief.
This makes him a complex figure, some experts say, who brings some valuable ideas to the table.
In recent days, he’s tried to reassure critics, telling NPR, “We’re not going to take vaccines away from anybody,” while adding, ominously, “We are going to make sure that Americans have good information.”
Kennedy has spent two decades promoting vaccine conspiracy theories, especially around Covid-19 shots — ironically, the very vaccines developed in record time under Trump’s first administration.
The nephew of the assassinated president John F. Kennedy, he was polling at around five percent of the popular vote before he withdrew to endorse Trump, to the dismay of his own family.
– MAHA –
Since then, the duo have been promoting the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, a play on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan — having reportedly approached Vice President Kamala Harris for a role, without success.
His mission: “to transform our nation’s food, fitness, air, water, soil, and medicine,” he said in a video, his voice unsteady due to a neurological condition.
“Our big priority will be to clean up the public health agencies,” he declared, naming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and more.
“Those agencies have become sock puppets for the industries that they’re supposed to regulate,” said the 70-year-old, echoing common progressive criticisms.
On X, he wrote: “If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.”
He has also stirred controversy by suggesting he would stop the addition of fluoride to tap water — a practice aimed at preventing cavities that the CDC considers one of the top 10 health achievements of the 20th century.
– Cabinet position? –
Will he serve as an advisor or even health secretary? With a Republican Senate majority, a cabinet confirmation is now possible.
At a recent rally, Trump said that Kennedy — once arrested for protesting the Keystone XL pipeline — won’t be involved in his “Drill, baby, drill” agenda.
But he will be responsible for “women’s health”, Trump said in an announcement that angered Democrats already frustrated by Republican-led abortion restrictions.
Yet RFK Jr.’s stance on reproductive rights defies easy categorization. This spring, he defended a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy at any stage, saying, “Ultimately, I don’t trust government to have jurisdiction over people’s bodies.”
He later revised his position, favoring a ban after fetal viability, around 24 weeks — the limit set by a Supreme Court ruling that held sway for half a century before it was overturned in 2022, thanks to Trump-appointed justices.
– Healthy eating –
Kennedy will also tackle the nation’s food health, a curious task considering Trump’s well-known affection for McDonald’s.
America must end its chronic disease epidemic, says Kennedy, focusing in particular on obesity. But he’s also a fan of raw milk, a practice health experts strongly discourage.
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy called for bringing prescription drug prices significantly down, citing the diabetes medication Ozempic — an issue championed by left wing Senator Bernie Sanders.
He also proposes preventing food stamp recipients from purchasing soda and ultra-processed foods, a policy “which I have advocated for the past 15 years,” Tom Frieden, CDC director under Obama, said in Stat News.
While agreeing with Kennedy’s focus on chronic disease, Frieden remains wary. “The MAHA combination of sound science, pseudo-science, and profiteering by so-called ‘wellness’ companies isn’t the answer.”
'A dangerous moment': Public health expert raises red flag about Trump's planned pick
Travis Gettys
November 8, 2024
CNN
Donald Trump has promised to give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a major role overseeing public health, and an expert shuddered at what that could mean for Americans.
The president-elect has said he would allow Kennedy to “go wild” on health, food and medicine in some unspecified role in his second administration, and public health expert Dr. Paul Offit appeared Friday morning on CNN to discuss the dangers posed by the vaccine opponent's plans.
"To be honest, I can't believe we are having this conversation," said Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital, Philadelphia. "If you do know the science and technological advances have allowed us to live 30 years longer than we did 100 years ago. Now you have this man, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a science denialist, a virulent anti-vaccine activist and a conspiracy theorist, who will have some sway over public health."
"Nothing good can come of that," the physician added. "He denies those advances, he simply declares his own scientific truths. It's a dangerous moment."
Kennedy told a reporter that he would not ban vaccines but would instead allow people to make that choice for themselves, and Offit lambasted his reasoning.
"He said 'if vaccines are working for some people,'" said Offit, who helped develop an effective vaccine for rotavirus. "The polio vaccine has virtually eliminated a virus that caused 30,000 cases of paralysis and 1,500 deaths a year. [Other vaccines] virtually eliminated the 20,000 to 25,000 cases of meningitis and bloodstream infections. The diphtheria vaccine has eliminated what was the most common killer of teenagers. The pertussis or whooping cough vaccine has virtually eliminated 8,000 deaths. If vaccines are working? That doesn't make a bit of sense."
"I mean, he is a conspiracy theorist," Offit added. "You labeled him a vaccine skeptic. He's not a vaccine skeptic, I'm a vaccine skeptic. Everybody who sits around the table at the FDA advisory committee is a skeptic. Show us the data, show us the data – prove it is safe and effective. He's not a skeptic, he's a cynic who doesn't believe those data. He thinks there's a conspiracy to hide the truth, making him a dangerous man."
Watch below or click the link here
Travis Gettys
November 8, 2024
CNN
Donald Trump has promised to give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a major role overseeing public health, and an expert shuddered at what that could mean for Americans.
The president-elect has said he would allow Kennedy to “go wild” on health, food and medicine in some unspecified role in his second administration, and public health expert Dr. Paul Offit appeared Friday morning on CNN to discuss the dangers posed by the vaccine opponent's plans.
"To be honest, I can't believe we are having this conversation," said Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital, Philadelphia. "If you do know the science and technological advances have allowed us to live 30 years longer than we did 100 years ago. Now you have this man, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a science denialist, a virulent anti-vaccine activist and a conspiracy theorist, who will have some sway over public health."
"Nothing good can come of that," the physician added. "He denies those advances, he simply declares his own scientific truths. It's a dangerous moment."
Kennedy told a reporter that he would not ban vaccines but would instead allow people to make that choice for themselves, and Offit lambasted his reasoning.
"He said 'if vaccines are working for some people,'" said Offit, who helped develop an effective vaccine for rotavirus. "The polio vaccine has virtually eliminated a virus that caused 30,000 cases of paralysis and 1,500 deaths a year. [Other vaccines] virtually eliminated the 20,000 to 25,000 cases of meningitis and bloodstream infections. The diphtheria vaccine has eliminated what was the most common killer of teenagers. The pertussis or whooping cough vaccine has virtually eliminated 8,000 deaths. If vaccines are working? That doesn't make a bit of sense."
"I mean, he is a conspiracy theorist," Offit added. "You labeled him a vaccine skeptic. He's not a vaccine skeptic, I'm a vaccine skeptic. Everybody who sits around the table at the FDA advisory committee is a skeptic. Show us the data, show us the data – prove it is safe and effective. He's not a skeptic, he's a cynic who doesn't believe those data. He thinks there's a conspiracy to hide the truth, making him a dangerous man."
Watch below or click the link here
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