2 Philadelphia doctors share concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation as health secretary
Philadelphia doctors are expressing concern after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed Thursday and sworn in as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Many doctors are concerned that Kennedy, a lawyer, does not have a medical background. He's now in charge of the country's largest health agency.
"I think it's a sad day for children. I think it's a sad day for the public's health," Dr. Paul A. Offit, who works at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said.
Offit, an internationally renowned vaccine expert, is disappointed with the confirmation.
Many who are opposed to him being secretary of HHS are concerned about Kennedy's involvement with the anti-vaccination movement, which falsely claims vaccines can cause autism.
Kennedy pushed back on that during the confirmation hearings.
"News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety," Kennedy said during his hearing.
Offit says there are decades of research highlighting the safety of vaccines, which Kennedy has challenged.
"So I think he said whatever he needed to say to get confirmed, but I think that he is going to be exactly who he has been for the last 20 years," Offit said. "Believe him when he says what he is."
Beyond the vaccine issue, Kennedy has vowed to "make America healthy again."
"We will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to good health," Kennedy said.
Kennedy says part of that will include taking aim at junk food.
"I agree with him largely on highly processed foods," said Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, an expert in medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
"We do know that highly processed foods are associated with a number of health problems — obesity, diabetes, dementia," Emanuel said.
It's unclear exactly how Kennedy will take on the food industry, but he and others in the Trump administration are vowing to disrupt the federal bureaucracy and cut wasteful spending.
"I think there are some things which are clearly worrisome," Emanuel said.
Emanuel and Offit are especially worried about medical research that the Trump administration is already trying to cut.
The Health and Human Services Department includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration.
