President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has stunned some in the medical field, with one doctor saying the nomination was "nuts."
Kennedy, a skeptic of vaccines, has said he is not "anti-vaccine." However, he has made numerous claims about vaccines that have been disputed by major health organizations. One such widely debunked claim is that vaccines are tied to autism.
He has also suggested that "fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease." The American Dental Association has said it stands by its recommendation that fluoride be added to tap water.
The group said that the study cited by Kennedy had "important limitations," the review was not intended to demonstrate cause and effect, and only considered exposure to fluoride at levels twice of what is in drinking water.
Dr. Pat Basu, a former White House adviser and Stanford physician, said that Kennedy's nomination to lead America's top health agencies is "completely nuts."
Basu cited a World Health Organization report that claimed modern vaccines have saved 154 million lives across the world.
"Mr. Kennedy's statements on vaccines are incredibly dangerous, and they could frankly reverse a century of progress," Basu said. "They could take us back to 1924. The bottom line is vaccines are one of the greatest, safest, most effective inventions of modern history. They've saved more than 100 million lives in the past 50 years, half of those being infants."
Kennedy has discussed reforming leading health agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration. Kennedy said that the FDA's "war on public health is about to end."
He alleged the FDA aggressively suppressing "psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can't be patented by Pharma."
Basu agreed there are issues that need to be addressed, but said Kennedy is taking the wrong approach.
"The difference between necessary reform and extreme measures or proposals is vast," he said. "Shutting down immunization programs, shutting down the FDA because their job is to regulate drug manufacturers is, let's put it this way, we don't talk about shutting down the Department of Defense because they have defense contractors for procurement, right? So look, in typical conspiracy fashion, this is an attempt to tie a potential half-truth to a blatant lie."
Basu cited the consumption of raw milk as one example of Kennedy's stances being dangerous.
"Drinking raw milk, the reason that we banned that was because it can cause severe illness, severe diarrhea," he said. "And sadly, the biggest, the most vulnerable populations are children, infants. So getting rid of these public health initiatives, be it drinking raw milk all the way to getting rid of immunization programs, is dangerous."
Prominent Democrat standing behind Kennedy
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he was "excited" that Trump had appointed Kennedy to lead HHS. Polis said he agreed with Kennedy that Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration needs a shake up. He also said he is optimistic that Kennedy will take on big pharma.
Polis later issued a statement clarifying his stance that he supports vaccines and medical science more broadly.
"If as a country we follow the science we would also be far more concerned about the impact of pesticides on public health, ag policy on nutrition, and the lack of access to prescription drugs due to drug high prices. This is why I am for a major shake-up in institutions like the FDA that have been barriers to lowering drug costs and promoting healthy food choices.
