Warnings about RFK Jr. are coming true

Even before Donald Trump took office at the end of January, there were concerns that his nominees to lead federal agencies in the field of public health — particularly Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known anti-vaccine crusader, at the Department Health and Human Services — would damage science and medicine, boost quackery, and ultimately endanger the health and lives of Americans. Now, it appears that his detractors’ warnings are coming true.

This week, the medical community was appalled by the report that David Geier, a vaccine skeptic whose discredited claims about a link between vaccination and autism have been previously cited by Kennedy, has been hired by HHS as a "data analyst" for an upcoming federal study exploring the possibility of such a link.

The project itself is widely viewed as unnecessary and even harmful: There is already a wealth of research definitively showing that vaccines do not contribute to autism, and for the government to launch yet another study on the subject creates the false impression that the risk may exist. Giving a leading role to Geier, who authored several flaw-riddled papers asserting that vaccines increase the risk of autism and who was disciplined in 2012 for trying to treat autistic children with an unproven hormone-based drug therapy, is far more alarming.

There are other causes for alarm, including a measles outbreak spread by declining vaccinations that has already sickened more than 320 people in Texas and 43 in New Mexico. Dozens of people have been hospitalized, and one child in Texas is dead — the first U.S. measles death in a decade.

Some people saw an encouraging sign when, in early March, Kennedy wrote a column for Fox News stressing the role of vaccination in measles prevention. But the column also stressed that the decision to vaccinate is "personal," and Kennedy’s subsequent media appearances have given even more cause for concern. He has asserted incorrectly that the measles vaccine causes some of the same severe effects as the disease itself, including encephalitis and blindness, and suggested that measles could be treated with vitamin A and cod liver oil. While low doses of vitamin A are indeed prescribed to reduce the risk of severe damage from measles, it’s not a treatment, and high doses can be harmful.

In other news, the National Institutes of Health — whose new director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, is a serious scientist but has shifted toward skepticism of mainstream medical opinion due to clashes over COVID-19 mitigation — is apparently ending grants for projects to study the causes of vaccine hesitancy.

Amid all these developments, HHS is cutting 10,000 jobs. Combined with a similar number of voluntary departures, this will reduce the agency’s full-time staff from 82,000 to 62,000. Of course, there is bureaucratic bloat and waste at large federal agencies. But given Kennedy’s record, there are good reasons to be concerned about what will go on the chopping block — especially since he is also centralizing some functions of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in his own hands.

During his campaign, Trump promised to let Kennedy "go wild on health." It looks more and more like this amounts to letting the fox go wild in the henhouse.

Opinions expressed by Cathy Young, a writer for The Bulwark, are her own.

By Cathy Young

Cathy Young is a writer for The Bulwark.