Will RFK Jr. Make America Healthy Again?
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the most controversial pick to become the nation’s health secretary in modern history. He has spent decades spreading misinformation and fears about vaccines and the myth they cause autism, he’s voiced skepticism that HIV causes AIDs, and he’s suggested a link between school shootings and growing use of antidepressants. RKF Jr.’s confirmation signals major changes at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He’s vowed to shift the federal government’s focus from infectious diseases toward an “epidemic” of chronic diseases, such as obesity and autoimmune conditions — with a particular focus on processed foods and chemical exposures. The political, legal and economic challenges facing him — from Democrats, doctors, researchers and business leaders — will be formidable, and Kennedy lacks prior government or health leadership experience. In this webinar, we will examine what Kennedy’s arrival at HHS will mean for the American health system and key federal agencies such as the FDA, CDC and NIH that would fall under his purview. We’ll ask how this unorthodox appointment will impact our public health system and access to vaccines. And we’ll discuss how the ambitions of the “Make American Healthy Movement” might confront the realities of America’s “epidemic” of chronic disease.
This webinar is free and made possible by The California Endowment.
Panelists
Isabella Cueto is a chronic disease reporter at STAT. She joined in 2021 as the inaugural Sharon Begley-STAT Science Reporting Fellow. Before coming to STAT, Isabella covered local issues in California, South Carolina, and South Florida. She is from Miami and speaks Spanish. Cueto's work has been recognized by the National Association of Science Writers, the South Carolina Press Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists. She is based in Washington, D.C.
Dan Gorenstein is the founder and executive editor of Tradeoffs, a podcast that explores tough choices in health care, diving into issues like the cost of care, health equity, insurance, mental health and artificial intelligence. Before Tradeoffs, Gorenstein was the senior health care reporter at Marketplace and spent 11 years at New Hampshire Public Radio. He got his start in journalism at the Chicago Reporter, an investigative journal that examines race and class disparities in the Chicago area. Gorenstein's work has earned numerous national awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi investigative reporting award. He is based in Philadelphia.
James Hodge, JD, is a national expert on health law, public health law, global health law, ethics, and human rights. Hodge is the Peter Kiewit Foundation Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and director of the Center for Public Health Law and Policy at Arizona State University. He publishes a quarterly column on public health law for the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics and advises numerous federal, state, and local governments on public health law and policy issues. From 2010-2023, he served as the founding director of the Western Region Office of the Network for Public Health Law funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. With others, he has drafted several influential public health laws, including the Model State Public Health Information Privacy Act and the Model State Indoor Air Quality Act. Before joining the College of Law in 2009, he was a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, and a core faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.
Suggested reading
“The MAHA era is here. RFK Jr.’s troubles are only beginning,” by Isabella Cueto, STAT
“Trump makes RFK Jr. leader of presidential ‘MAHA’ commission to study chronic disease,” by Isabella Cueto, STAT
“Analysis: RFK Jr. doubles down on vaccine criticism and misinformation, imperiling key votes,” by Isabella Cueto, STAT
“The 7 big topics RFK Jr. addressed during a fiery confirmation hearing,” by Isabella Cueto, STAT
“RFK Jr.’s insistence that the government ignores chronic disease is misguided,” by Aria Bendix, Mustafa Fattah and Erika Edwards, NBC News
“What Could RFK Jr. Do As Head of HHS? We Asked Someone Who’s Done the Job,” Tradeoffs
“RFK Jr. Wants to Change What Americans Eat. He’s Not The First.” Tradeoffs
“The Powerful Vaccine Committee RFK Jr. Could Soon Control,” Tradeoffs
“7 Noteworthy Falsehoods Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has Promoted,” by Anjali Huynh and Teddy Rosenbluth, The New York Times
“Meeting of key CDC vaccine advisory panel, under scrutiny by RFK Jr., is postponed,” by Helen Branswell, STAT
“RFK Jr. Denied He Is Anti-Vaccine During His Confirmation Hearing. Here’s His Record,” by Jamie Ducharme, TIME
“A leading pediatrician was already worried about the future of vaccines. Then RFK Jr. came along,” by Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times
“Legal Underpinnings of the Great Vaccine Debate of 2025,” by James G. Hodge, Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Paper