NEW YORK >> President-elect Donald Trump announced today that he has chosen Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist who has spread misinformation about vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the nation’s top health agency. United States.

Kennedy ran for president in this year’s election as an independent before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in the Republican administration.

“The safety and health of all Americans is the most important role of any administration, and HHS will play an important role in ensuring that everyone is protected from the harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming crisis of health in this country,” Trump said in a social media post.

The Department of Health and Human Services oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the massive Medicare and Medicaid services programs that provide health coverage for the poor, those age 65 and older , and disabled people.

The tens of millions of Medicaid and Medicare enrollees mean that HHS had a budget of $3.09 trillion for fiscal year 2024, representing 22.8% of the US federal budget.

KENNEDY’S HEALTH PRIORITIES

Kennedy, the son and grandson of two titans of Democratic politics, served on Trump’s transition team and reviewed the resumes of candidates for top jobs at US health agencies.

Throughout posts on social media platform X and interviews in recent weeks, Kennedy has indicated that his priorities include addressing what he calls the “chronic disease epidemic” of conditions including obesity, diabetes and autism, and reducing chemicals in food.

Despite high levels of health and pharmaceutical spending, Americans are unhealthier than their peers in rich countries around the world, according to a 2023 Commonwealth Fund report.

Kennedy also suggested he would gut the 18,000-employee Food and Drug Administration — which ensures the safety of food, drugs and medical devices — and replace hundreds of employees at the National Institutes of Health.

“The FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” he wrote on X in late October, adding that it included “aggressive suppression” of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, sunshine and other items.

“If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Keep your records and 2. Pack your bags,” he wrote.

In early November, he said he would recommend removing fluoride from public water supplies, falsely claiming on X that the chemical is linked to bone fractures and cancer. The American Dental Association says the decades-old intervention reduces tooth decay by more than 25 percent in adults and children.

Kennedy criticized a New York Times op-ed in September about the weight-loss drug Ozempic, saying, “Instead of fixing our food system and tackling the obesity crisis at its root, the author focuses on a drug that can alleviate the symptom — and delight the far-flung wallets of Big Pharma executives.”

KENNEDY AND VACCINES

Kennedy has been criticized for making false medical claims, including that vaccines are linked to autism. He has opposed state and federal restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been accused of spreading misinformation about the virus.

He disputes the anti-vaccine label, saying he wants more rigorous vaccine testing instead. However, he chaired Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit focused on anti-vaccine messaging.

In an interview in March, when he was still running for president, Kennedy said that Americans who want a vaccine for themselves or their children would continue to have access to them if they chose. But he said he doubts the effectiveness of measles vaccines.

Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost entirely preventable by vaccination. A vaccination coverage of 95% is needed to prevent outbreaks among populations. However, U.S. coverage rates have fallen below that level among young children, the CDC said this month.

Kennedy, who first sought the Democratic nomination before becoming an independent, had a difficult presidential race marked by attention-grabbing media headlines.

During his campaign, he admitted in a video posted online that he dumped a dead bear in New York City’s Central Park a decade ago and staged it to look like a bicycle had hit it. He proclaimed he had “so many skeletons in my closet” after a former family nanny accused him of sexual assault. He denied that a large animal in a picture of a grilled carcass belonged to a canine.

Kennedy’s campaign also confirmed a report that he had a brain parasite more than a decade ago, but has since made a full recovery.