Trump picks RFK Jr to be head of Health and Human Services Department, public health officials appalled

President-elect Donald Trump selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States' top health agency, he said on Thursday. Public health officials and senior politicians have reacted to the news with deep unease.

Dr Ashwin Vasan, Foremer commissioner of New York City's Department of Health:

"Even though we maybe knew some of this was coming or this was coming, I'm still shocked, and I think this really does have potential devastating consequences for the health of Americans.

"There are aspects of our health that only work when we're doing things together, vaccination, protections of our environment. They only work when we decide together that we want it to work. And while there are always things to improve, what I'm hearing and what everyone's said publicly, he's interested in tearing down that infrastructure ... things like tearing down the CDC. That doesn't only make us less healthy, it makes us less safe, because the CDC is principally responsible for protecting us against health threats.

"HHS is not just one agency, it is a series of agencies. He has no experience. He has no expertise. He is completely unqualified for the job."

Dave Latshaw II, Former lead Artificial Intelligence scientists at Johnson and Johnson, and CEO OF Biophy, an AI drug development company:

He said picking RFK Jr. to lead HHS appears to be in conflict with Trump's broader priorities of streamlining government and improving efficiency, noting Trump's picks of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead an effort to make government more efficient.

"Their goal is to streamline things there. The implication would be that you would have faster drug development time, lower costs in getting medicines decisions faster.

"I think that he's very skeptical of the process, and ultimately could end up slowing a lot of things down.

"If you look at the markets, you can sort of see that the way that everyone has reacted is any companies and any programs that are either longer-term in nature or testing new or risky modalities are the ones that are really at risk."

Senator Patty Murray from Washington State

“Donald Trump’s selection of a notorious anti-vaxxer to lead HHS could not be more dangerous—this is cause for deep concern for every American. There is no telling how far a fringe conspiracy theorist like RFK Jr. could set back America in terms of public health, reproductive rights, research and innovation, and so much else.

"The consequences here are not theoretical or superficial—health care access, coverage, research, and public health are life or death issues for people—and the COVID pandemic was an all too recent, all too painful reminder.

"The last time Donald Trump was President he sent the uninsured rate skyrocketing and did quite possibly irreparable damage to trust in public health - and he has made clear he plans to do much worse in a second term, no matter the consequences. Confirming RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary would be nothing short of a disaster for the health of millions of families. I urge my Senate Republican colleagues to join me in forcefully condemning and opposing this catastrophic nomination."

Dr. Michael Osterholm, infectious disease expert from the University of Minnesota:

"Every signal we have is certainly very concerning from a health standpoint. We have recognized for many years that Mr Kennedy doesn't adhere to good science in making his pronouncements about health issues.

"Immunization has continued to be the single greatest contributor of any health intervention to ensuring that babies not only see their first birthdays, but they continue leading healthy lives into adulthood."

He noted that it is not clear if the Senate will confirm the nomination yet.

Drew Altman, CEO of non-profit KFF:

"It's a really historic change in the kind of person appointed secretary, not unlike justice, not unlike the DNI. Historically, secretaries have been people with real experience and standing in national healthcare and he certainly is not that, and has views from outside the mainstream, and is a renegade appointment.

"A lot still to be determined in terms of the support he gets from the President, whether he is in sync with the heads of the powerful independent agencies in HHS, or whether they resist him. They still to be appointed: NIH, FDA, CDC, CMS.

"One of the very notable things about this appointment, if in fact it happens, is that he has not really ever focused on the big entitlement programs; Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA, which are where the money is in the department, really have always been regarded as the guts of the department.

"And so the question is, as Republicans move to dial back the role of the federal government in health and cut federal spending to pay for their tax cuts, is he going to be engaged with that, or will other people take the lead on that, the White House, the agencies, or maybe just Congress? In other words, will he be the secretary of the whole department, or just the parts of the department that he focuses on?"

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, Democrat from Oregon

“Trump’s health agenda isn’t a secret: worse health care at a higher cost for American families. Trump and Republicans in Congress have a proven track record of empowering insurance companies and Big Pharma while leaving everyday Americans to foot the bill. That means higher premiums, weakened protections for pre-existing conditions, criminalizing reproductive health care, and attacks on essential health coverage like Medicaid.

“Mr. Kennedy's outlandish views on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should worry all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children. When Mr. Kennedy comes before the Finance Committee, it’s going to be very clear what Americans stand to lose under Trump and Republicans in Congress.”