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The US health secretary oversees everything from food safety to medical research and welfare programs.

It’s an open question how qualified Robert F Kennedy Jr is for the job, given his reputation as a vaccine skeptic.

In an interview last year, he said: “I think autism comes from vaccines.”

America’s national public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is one of the bodies Kennedy will oversee if his appointment is confirmed.

In the Autism FAQ, it states: “Many studies have looked at whether there is a relationship between vaccines and ASD (autism spectrum disorder). To date, studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with ASD.”

Kennedy actually has a the history of deviation from the truth and the spread of health information that scientists say is false.

However, he may bring some passion to Kennedy’s role as health secretary when it comes to dealing with the nation’s drug addiction crisis.

Addicted to heroin for 14 years in his youth, he spoke about the problem in 2023 an interview for the Daily Mail, externalsaying: “We are losing a whole generation of young people. This year alone we have lost 106,000 people to fentanyl deaths.” The actual figure was even higher, at a little over 107,500, external.