Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s well being and human companies secretary, talks loads concerning the issues he feels immediately threaten the well being of People — synthetic meals dyes, seed oils and fluoride are typically widespread speaking factors.
He additionally focuses on the nation’s “chronic disease epidemic,” with the objective of placing an finish to it. However specialists say his hyper-focus on issues like meals dyes really take away from big-picture well being issues that massively affect morbidity and mortality.
“RFK Jr. will give attention to that on the expense of different issues which are very, very, very, very a lot contributing to the ‘continual illness epidemic,’” mentioned Dr. Eric Burnett, an inner medication physician at a tutorial medical heart in New York and a health communicator on social media.
The continual illness burden within the U.S. does exist and is excessive, however “the issues that he’s specializing in … he can wave a magic wand after which make fluoride and meals dyes disappear fully — it could not grossly affect the burden of continual illness on this nation as a result of there’s so many different issues which are heavy contributors to this that he’s not even addressing in any respect,” mentioned Burnett.
If Kennedy actually wished to “make America wholesome once more,” he’d swap his focus (and prioritize funding) to quite a few different areas, mentioned specialists who spoke to HuffPost. Beneath, medical doctors and medical specialists share what the well being secretary ought to really give attention to.
He would unequivocally help vaccines.
“If he might simply begin with supporting vaccines, letting go of this autism nonsense that ‘oh, vaccines trigger autism’ … [we have] hundreds of studies that have shown there’s completely no affiliation,” mentioned Dr. Anita Patel, a pediatric essential care physician in Washington, D.C.
In gentle of the present measles outbreak in West Texas and past, Kennedy has made statements recommending vaccines, solely to backpedal and inform dad and mom to “do their own vaccine research.”
“If he cared about human well being, he wouldn’t be undermining vaccine confidence,” added Jessica Malaty Rivera, an infectious illness epidemiologist.
“It’s simply so unlucky that, as a result of we’re on this world the place we now have trendy medication and we now have antibiotics, antivirals, wonderful vaccines, folks have merely forgotten that these viruses used to kill a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals,” Patel added.
He’d deal with tobacco and alcohol’s position in continual illness.
“They’re prioritizing these speaking factors which are very glamorous for the wellness trade, like meals dyes and fluorides and vaccines, however issues which are really contributing to continual illness on this nation, like tobacco, alcohol, drug use, weight problems, I don’t see them providing any sensible options,” Burnett mentioned.
Alcohol and tobacco use are “two of the biggest contributors to continual illness,” he mentioned. “And but, we’re not doing something to handle these issues.”
Alcohol and tobacco use can result in coronary heart illness, lung illness and liver illness. “Alcohol is linked to a number of several types of most cancers,” Burnett mentioned. And it’s well-known that smoking cigarettes also causes cancer. “However we don’t discuss that, proper?” Burnett mentioned.
He wouldn’t enable funding cuts for analysis on ladies’s well being, the BIPOC neighborhood and LGBTQ+ people.
In latest months, the Trump administration has cut funding to any federal research that relates to “diversity, equity and inclusion,” which signifies that any analysis that features the phrases “ladies,” “trans,” “diversity” and extra can face funding cuts.
It is a far cry from the place analysis ended underneath the Biden administration.
“Jill Biden had spearheaded this [White House Initiative on women’s health research] … one thing like billions of {dollars} was going to be devoted to ladies’s well being. Not simply gynecologic situations, but additionally cardiovascular well being, mind well being, these type of issues,” mentioned Dr. Karen Tang, a board-certified gynecologist and the writer of “It’s Not Hysteria.”
“And we had all been very hopeful that that was going to result in enhancements in a whole lot of these areas the place we now have an entire lack of analysis,” she mentioned.
(Women were largely not included in medical analysis research till 1993.)
“I’ve heard from different medical doctors … funding has been shut down for analysis tasks that need to do with ladies’s well being due to these issues that it’s favoring ladies, prefer it’s not being equitable — all this loopy stuff,” Tang mentioned.
“The priority is, we’re already at a extreme, extreme drawback when it got here to lack of analysis and information, and now we’re going to be even worse off as a result of individuals are shedding funding,” she added.
SDI Productions by way of Getty Photographs
The identical goes for analysis that focuses on racial disparities in well being care and LGBTQ+ health care, which will even have devastating impacts.
“Even for those who take a look at it from a purely value effectiveness perspective, slicing all this funding is definitely penny clever, pound silly … you’re really doubtlessly resulting in increased well being care prices as a result of we’re not determining methods to optimize well being and to forestall all of those continual situations that, with slightly bit extra analysis or understanding, we might have,” Tang mentioned.
He would additionally contemplate the position poverty and social determinants of well being have on well-being.
“I feel one of many major drivers of continual sickness on this nation is poverty, and I’ve by no means as soon as heard RFK Jr. or anybody from HHS discuss poverty and the way social determinants of well being — like somebody’s potential to afford meals, somebody’s potential to afford well being care — affect continual illness,” Burnett mentioned.
For those who can’t afford to go to the physician, your continual illness is simply going to get extra extreme. For those who don’t have entry to nutritious meals, the chance of creating a continual illness like diabetes solely will increase.
“If he cared about meals and vitamin, he would give attention to resolving the difficulty of meals insecurity in meals deserts, in communities that don’t have sufficient assets to supply nutritious meals, as an alternative of those pink herrings of meals dyes and preservatives,” mentioned Malaty Rivera.
“If he might discuss that and meals dyes, I’d say, ‘OK, he does care concerning the continual illness epidemic, as a result of he’s speaking about some main issues and positive, we will work on getting meals dyes out, too, as type of a supplementary factor,’” Burnett famous.
“Numerous my sufferers undergo from housing insecurity, meals insecurity, and people actually contribute to continual well being, so I actually want that he would give attention to that,” mentioned Burnett, who careworn that it’s not a straightforward activity.
“It’s not one thing that’s glamorous … meals dyes have been vilified by the wellness neighborhood for many years, so it’s very simple to type of choose that as a villain boogeyman du jour and say, ‘Sure, that is what we’re gonna give attention to. We’re gonna defeat this,’” he mentioned.
“However speaking about poverty is much more sophisticated and actually makes folks mirror on the type of ethical failings of our nation and why there’s such a problem with poverty, revenue inequality, and sadly, speaking about well being care disparities as they relate to issues like poverty is now thought of DEI, they usually’re defunding that, too,” he famous.
“That solely exacerbates the difficulty if we will’t even examine revenue inequality and well being care disparities,” Burnett mentioned.
“I am attempting to let folks know ‘make America wholesome once more’ is definitely making America sick once more.”
– Jessica Malaty Rivera, infectious illness epidemiologist
He wouldn’t minimize infectious illness analysis.
“If RFK Jr. cared about making America wholesome once more, he would perceive that defunding infectious illness analysis really harms continual illness analysis,” mentioned Malaty Rivera.
“Infectious ailments are one of many main causes of continual ailments, and to say that they’re separate is exhibiting a elementary misunderstanding of how human well being works,” she mentioned.
Kennedy made a giant deal concerning the amount of cash and a spotlight infectious illness analysis will get, “however he doesn’t notice it’s inextricably linked with continual ailments,” Malaty Rivera famous.
HPV, which is an infectious illness, is an instance of this, she mentioned. “[HPV is] additionally a number one trigger, if not the main trigger, of cervical most cancers, anal most cancers, oral most cancers, vulvar, penile most cancers … 90% of these cancers occur due to an HPV an infection, which is definitely vaccine-preventable,” Malaty Rivera mentioned.
“It’s simply very disingenuous to say that these two issues are separate,” she added.
He wouldn’t enable funding cuts for Narcan.
A draft HHS funds (which isn’t but authorised) referred to as for the elimination of $56 million in federal funding for Narcan, “which is the opioid overdose reversal agent,” Burnett mentioned.
“And it’s simply stuff like that, you give attention to Pink Dye 40, which isn’t contributing to morbidity and mortality on this nation, however 100,000 folks a yr die from opioid overdoses, and Narcan lowered the mortality from opioid overdose by 24% final yr,” he famous. “That’s unbelievable.”
“And the truth that they need to take away the federal funding for Narcan kits is simply one other factor that exhibits me that they’re not concerned with making America wholesome once more,” mentioned Burnett.
He’d cease stigmatizing folks with autism.
“One actually massive factor I want that he would do is cease marginalizing youngsters with any type of underlying situation, and naturally, autism is the one that’s on all of our minds as a result of his rhetoric around autism is basically that it was attributable to dad and mom giving their little one a vaccine,” Patel mentioned.
“And, he’s not saying that immediately, [he’s] saying environmental exposures, however the best way that he’s doing it and the best way that he talks about these youngsters is already resulting in bullying and only a lack of concern for them,” she added.
“As a essential care physician, I’m the one which takes care of all these youngsters with underlying medical situations, they usually deserve well being help and care, and they’re eradicating all of that with their potential funds,” Patel mentioned, referring to the HHS draft funds.
He’d deal with the nation’s excessive maternal mortality charges.
There’s a critical ladies’s well being disaster occurring within the U.S. whenever you take a look at being pregnant and obstetric security, Tang mentioned.
“A 3rd, 35% of U.S. counties have no access to obstetric care. There’s no OB-GYN, there’s no labor and supply unit … no less than 2 million ladies dwell in locations the place there’s no entry to obstetric care,” Tang famous.
According to the Commonwealth Fund, maternal mortality charges are increased in america than in some other high-income nation. As of 2022, america had 22 maternal deaths for each 100,000 births. By comparability, Norway had 0 maternal deaths out of 100,000, Switzerland had 1 out of 100,000 and the UK had 5 out of 100,000.
“Amongst different [high-income] international locations, there’s nowhere near the maternal mortality price, and particularly for Black women, who have [a] significantly higher risk of dying in being pregnant or childbirth in contrast with white ladies,” mentioned Tang.
Charges of maternal mortality and toddler mortality have elevated in states with strict abortion bans, she added. Plus, OB-GYNs are leaving practices in states with abortion restrictions over fears of prosecution, she added, which additional limits take care of birthing folks and their infants.
Specializing in meals dyes, seed oils and vaccine analysis that’s been debunked again and again is definitely simply distracting from the true betterment of America’s well being and the protection of people, their households and their neighbors.
Permitting funds cuts to essential well being analysis, the tip of worldwide vaccine programs and the slashing of total federal well being applications units the U.S. again “within the analysis he desires so badly to champion, and that’s [the] irreparable hurt,” mentioned Malaty Rivera.
“It tells me well being isn’t the precedence, and that’s been simply abundantly clear,” she added. “So I’m attempting to let folks know ‘make America wholesome once more’ is definitely making America sick once more — and that’s actually the TL;DR.”
