More than 75 Nobel laureates in the areas of medicine, chemistry, physics and economics signed a letter urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the next secretary of the Department of Health Human Services.
President-elect Donald Trump drew criticism when he named Kennedy — a longtime vaccine skeptic — as his nominee to lead the nearly $2 trillion agency charged with administering health-insurance programs for millions of Americans, approving medications and overseeing vaccine safety.
While the laureates — all whom are American or live in the United States — rarely engage with politics, Richard Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine, told The Washington Post that he and others felt “very disturbed by the possibility that RFK Jr. would become head of HHS.”
The letter states that Kennedy does not have the “credentials or relevant experience in medicine, science, public health, or administration” to lead the department.
Among the stated reasons for opposing Kennedy: his opposition to “many health-protecting and lifesaving vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio,” his criticism of the “well-established positive effects of fluoridation of drinking water,” his promotion of conspiracy theories about successful treatments for AIDS and other diseases, and his “belligerent” criticism of the nation’s health agencies.
Roberts, who organized the letter, said he doesn’t understand how any lawmaker who “cares for the health of their constituents can think that this is a good choice for the head of HHS.”
President-elect Donald Trump drew criticism when he named Kennedy — a longtime vaccine skeptic — as his nominee to lead the nearly $2 trillion agency charged with administering health-insurance programs for millions of Americans, approving medications and overseeing vaccine safety.
While the laureates — all whom are American or live in the United States — rarely engage with politics, Richard Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine, told The Washington Post that he and others felt “very disturbed by the possibility that RFK Jr. would become head of HHS.”
The letter states that Kennedy does not have the “credentials or relevant experience in medicine, science, public health, or administration” to lead the department.
Among the stated reasons for opposing Kennedy: his opposition to “many health-protecting and lifesaving vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio,” his criticism of the “well-established positive effects of fluoridation of drinking water,” his promotion of conspiracy theories about successful treatments for AIDS and other diseases, and his “belligerent” criticism of the nation’s health agencies.
Roberts, who organized the letter, said he doesn’t understand how any lawmaker who “cares for the health of their constituents can think that this is a good choice for the head of HHS.”
