Given the recent appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be, pending Senate confirmation, the next head of Health and Human Services, a number of questions arise regarding his belief system, which sometimes contradicts evidence-based science and medical issues. Here are a dozen questions I would like him to answer.
1: On several occasions, you have collaborated with Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced former physician whose 1998 claim of a connection between autism is arguably the foundation of the modern anti-vaccination movement. In 2004, British journalist Brian Deer began a long investigation of Wakefield and provided evidence of ethical violations, conflicts of interest, and data manipulation, leading to Wakefield losing his medical license in 2010. Why have you not publicly repudiated Wakefield?
2: You have claimed that ethyl mercury (thimerosal) is responsible for autism and that it is still being used in vaccines. But, except in cases of multiple-dose vials, the preservative is no longer used. If thimerosal is not the cause of autism, do you believe there is another vaccine component responsible? If so, what evidence supports this?
3: Of all the FDA-approved vaccines, do any of them have an unfavorable risk-to-benefit profile? If so, please name them and provide evidence for this.
4: Summaries of the clinical trials of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were presented by the FDA to its vaccines advisory committee in December 2020. Those summaries showed that both vaccines were > 90% effective in preventing infection. Do you agree that they should have been approved and their administration widely encouraged by the federal government?
5: You have stated that 5G causes cancer. What evidence do you have to support this claim?
6: Given that homeopathy has been criticized and debunked by virtually all of the scientific community, how do you respond to critiques that it lacks efficacy beyond a placebo effect? Do you still believe in homeopathy? If so, can you explain how more dilute solutions are more effective than those that are concentrated, something that defies the entirety of the science of pharmacology?
7: Untested supplements and ineffective “homeopathic remedies” are sold without restriction on pharmacy shelves. Do you believe that these products, even those with little or no scientific evidence behind them, should continue to be sold? And for what conditions would you favor the use of homeopathic products?
8: You have long been an opponent of genetically modified crops. Yet, more than 90% of the corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, and sugar beets in the US are genetically modified. Do you favor banning or imposing restrictions on some or all of these crops?
9: You recently stated that kids should not be eating sugar. Does this mean that you would want to end subsidies to sugar farmers?
10: You have called for the end of SNAP (1) benefits for “ultra-processed foods” and for serving them for school lunches. How do you define an “ultra-processed food?”
11: You speak of dangerous pharmaceutical products. What currently approved prescription drugs would you take off the market? And why?
12: Who is better qualified to evaluate drugs than FDA experts in medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, biostatistics, and medicine?
NOTE:
(1) SNAP is an acronym for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Josh Bloom
Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science
Dr. Josh Bloom, the Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, comes from the world of drug discovery, where he did research for more than 20 years. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry.
