Former surgeons generals raise alarms about RFK Jr.
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Six former U.S. surgeons general on Tuesday joined a growing list of credentialed medical experts and others in health circles to raise alarm about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.
Why it matters: The common theme is Kennedy's disregard for evidence-based science is dangerous, particularly when it comes to vaccines.
Driving the news: On Tuesday, the surgeons general — who served in Republican and Democratic administrations and include Jerome Adams from President Trump's first term — wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post stating Kennedy is "endangering the health of the nation."
- "Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy's policies and positions pose to the nation's health cannot be ignored," they wrote.
- The former top health officials pointed to Kennedy's deemphasizing of the value of vaccines during a measles outbreak and his replacement of experts on key vaccine advisory committees with individuals who would cast doubt on childhood vaccines.
- They also pointed to the linkage of Tylenol use to autism, despite the lack of conclusive evidence.
The big picture: It follows a similar warning from nine former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention directors and acting directors last month, who cited the undermining of vaccines, as well as dismantling of public health expertise within federal agencies.
- It also follows the explicit call last month for Kennedy's resignation by more than 20 medical organizations including the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). (APHA's executive director, Georges C. Benjamin, called for Kennedy's resignation in April.)
- More than 1,000 current and former HHS employees signed a letter last month calling for Kennedy to resign, pointing to the dismissal of the CDC director and his appointing of "political ideologues who pose as scientific experts and manipulate data" to advance misinformation about vaccines.
- The Committee to Protect Public Mental Health, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and members of the Kennedy family have called on him to resign or be fired.
The other side: HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement to Axios that the "same officials who presided over the decline in America's public health are now criticizing the first Secretary to confront it head-on."
- He continued: "We remain committed to restoring trust, reforming broken health systems, and ensuring that every American has access to real choice in their health care."
