Health
A Skeptical G.O.P. Senator Makes His Peace With Kennedy
Perhaps no vote was as agonizing for Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and medical doctor, than his vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump’s health secretary. Mr. Cassidy wondered aloud for days how Mr. Kennedy, the nation’s most vocal and powerful critic of vaccinations, might handle an infectious disease crisis.
Now, as a measles outbreak rages in West Texas, Mr. Cassidy has found out. It all comes down, he said, to “the gestalt.”
On Monday, days after the Texas outbreak killed an unvaccinated child, Mr. Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, was clipping down a Capitol corridor when he was asked about Mr. Kennedy. He pointed to a Fox News Digital opinion piece in which Mr. Kennedy advised parents to consult their doctors about vaccination, while calling it a “personal” decision.
“That Fox editorial was very much encouraging people to get vaccinated,” he said.
Reminded that Mr. Kennedy had described it as a personal choice, Mr. Cassidy thought for a moment. “If you want to like, parse it down to the line, you can say, ‘Discuss with your doctor,’” Mr. Cassidy said. “He also said, ‘We’re making vaccinations available. We’re doing this for vaccination. We’re doing that for vaccination.’ So if you take the gestalt of it, the gestalt was, ‘Let’s get vaccinated!’”
Mr. Cassidy’s assessment — that the whole of Mr. Kennedy’s message was more than the sum of its parts — reflects how the measles outbreak has put a spotlight on how Mr. Trump’s unorthodox choice to run the country’s top health agency has brought a once-fringe perspective into the political mainstream, creating discomfort for some Republicans.
As the founder and chairman of his nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, and later as a presidential candidate, Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly downplayed the benefits of vaccination. He has also repeatedly suggested that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine causes autism, despite extensive research that has found no link.
Since winning Trump’s nod to head the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Kennedy has walked a careful line on the issue. Some of his recent statements, in which he stops short of denouncing vaccines, have angered some of his supporters. But his less than full-throated endorsement of vaccination, and his promotion of alternative remedies to treat measles, have angered mainstream scientists who say the one proven way to prevent measles is the vaccine.
“This, I would say, is the barest of the bare minimum that one can do in the middle of a measles outbreak,” said Dr. Adam Ratner, a New York City pediatrician who just published a book, “Booster Shots,” that warns of a measles resurgence.
But Del Bigtree, Mr. Kennedy’s former communications director and one of his closest allies, said Mr. Kennedy was doing exactly what he said he would do: putting all options on the table and letting parents decide for themselves.
He used the word “balance” to describe Mr. Kennedy’s approach, and said the media was being “incredibly disingenuous and in some ways alarmist and dangerous by creating a panic over a death from measles.”
Asked about Mr. Cassidy’s “gestalt” remark, Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the department, referred back to the Fox opinion piece. He said the health secretary’s comment could speak for itself: “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”
Mr. Cassidy, a liver specialist, made his career in medicine treating uninsured patients as a doctor in Louisiana’s charity hospital system. He is a fierce proponent of vaccines.
But he is also facing a Republican primary challenger in 2026, and voting against Mr. Kennedy risked prompting Mr. Trump to endorse his opponent — and sparking a potential backlash among an increasingly vaccine-skeptical G.O.P. electorate.
Mr. Kennedy’s “medical freedom” movement, which he calls “Make America Healthy Again,” is now deeply entrenched in the Republican Party. The coronavirus pandemic turned many conservatives against vaccine mandates, even for children attending school. Around the country, nearly 1,000 candidates, nearly all Republican, ran for elective office in November with the backing of Stand for Health Freedom, a Florida nonprofit that has pushed to make it easier for parents to opt out of school vaccine requirements.
For Mr. Cassidy and other Republicans who were uneasy about Mr. Kennedy, the situation in West Texas is forcing a reckoning, said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist who is also a member of Rotary International, an organization that has set a goal of ending polio by promoting vaccination around the world.
“His position on vaccines was exceedingly well known when he was nominated, and when he was confirmed by the United States Senate,” Mr. Ayers said. “Everybody, with their eyes open, knew that his positions could lead to a resurgence of measles.”
As vaccination rates have dropped around the country, public health experts have warned that measles would be the first infectious disease to come back. But the Texas measles outbreak cannot be blamed on Mr. Kennedy. The disease began spreading within the Mennonite community, an insular Christian group that settled in West Texas in the 1970s; many Mennonites are unvaccinated and vulnerable to the virus.
Mr. Kennedy minimized the situation in Texas during a Cabinet meeting with Mr. Trump last week, saying measles outbreaks in the United States are “not unusual.” His Fox opinion piece promoted the use of vitamin A, which studies have shown is useful in treating measles in malnourished children.
He followed up with a prerecorded Fox News interview that aired on Tuesday, in which he said parents and doctors should consider alternative approaches, including cod liver oil, for the treatment of measles. He also acknowledged that vaccines “do prevent infection.” But once again, Mr. Kennedy did not urge Americans to get vaccinated.
The Texas Department of Health issued a health alert on Jan. 23 reporting two cases of measles. Since then, nearly 160 people have contracted the illness and 22 have been hospitalized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it had sent some of its “disease detectives” to Texas to support local officials in the response.
By Wednesday, while Mr. Cassidy appeared satisfied with Mr. Kennedy’s handling of the matter, the senator was pushing another key health nominee on questions of measles, vaccines and autism.
He wanted to know whether Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, appearing before the Senate health committee for his confirmation hearing as Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, intended to spend tax dollars on research into the discredited theory that vaccines cause autism. Mr. Cassidy had repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, tried to get Mr. Kennedy to reject that theory in his own confirmation hearing.
Dr. Bhattacharya told the senator he was “convinced” that there is no link between the measles vaccine and autism. But like Mr. Kennedy, he said he supported additional research, if only to assuage the fears of nervous parents.
Mr. Cassidy was incensed, saying the matter had already been settled by years of extensive research. New studies, he said, would waste taxpayer dollars and take away money from studies that might uncover the true causes of autism. He pounded his fist on the table.
“If we’re pissing away money over here,” he said with a wave of his hand, “that’s less money that we have to actually go after the true reason.”
And in any event, Mr. Cassidy said, further research would not change minds. “There’s people who disagree that the world is round,” he said, adding, “People still think Elvis is alive.”
To secure Mr. Cassidy’s vote last month, Mr. Kennedy made a series of concessions, which Mr. Cassidy outlined in a Senate floor speech. They included a pledge not to disband the committee of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines, and to leave intact statements on the C.D.C.’s website saying that vaccines do not cause autism.
Mr. Kennedy also promised to have an “unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship” with Mr. Cassidy, and to meet or speak with him “multiple times a month,” and to give Congress advance notice of any vaccine policy changes.
“I will carefully watch for any effort to wrongfully sow public fear about vaccines between confusing references of coincidence and anecdote,” Mr. Cassidy said then.
On his way into the Senate chamber on Monday, he said he thought Mr. Kennedy was doing a good job with the Texas response. “He’s handling it well,” the senator said. He was asked if he had spoken to Mr. Kennedy about the measles outbreak.
“We speak on a regular basis,” Mr. Cassidy said, adding: “Let’s leave it at that.”
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Chronic lateness is known to be a common annoyance, often leading to strain within relationships, experts have confirmed.
And for some people who struggle to be on time, the reasons may go far beyond poor planning.
Psychotherapist and author Jonathan Alpert told Fox News Digital that chronic lateness often stems from a combination of psychological patterns and neurobiological factors that people may not realize are influencing them.
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“For some people, it’s personality-driven. They’re distractible, optimistic about how long things take, or simply not tuned into the impact on others,” the New York-based expert said.
For others, the issue stems from neurobiological differences that affect how the brain manages time.
Chronic lateness may not stem from poor planning, but from psychological and neurobiological factors. (iStock)
That can make it harder to estimate how long tasks take or to transition from one activity to the next, leading to chronic lateness, according to Alpert.
Impact on relationships
In addition to disrupting schedules, chronic lateness may also strain relationships and create tension.
“Lateness erodes trust. Over time, it sends the message that someone else’s time is less important, even if that’s not the intent,” Alpert noted.
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Lateness can also become an issue in the workplace, where repeated delays can undermine teamwork and harm a person’s reputation.
These patterns are common among people with ADHD, who often experience what is known as “time blindness,” making it difficult to recognize how quickly minutes pass or how long tasks truly take.
“Adding 10 to 15 minutes of buffer between activities reduces the frantic rushing that leads to chronic lateness.”
ADHD is strongly associated with executive-function difficulties, which are the skills needed to stay organized, plan ahead and focus on essential details, according to the Attention Deficit Disorder Association.
When these abilities are weaker, it becomes more challenging to gauge time, follow a schedule and meet deadlines, which can impact personal and professional relationships, experts agree.
Frequent tardiness in a work setting can throw off group efforts and leave others with a negative impression of the employee. (iStock)
Underlying patterns
Anxiety, avoidance and perfectionism are patterns that Alpert most often sees in people who tend to run late, he noted.
“Many chronically late individuals don’t intend to be disrespectful. They’re overwhelmed, anxious or trying to squeeze too much into too little time,” he said.
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These emotional patterns often show up in different ways. For some, anxiety can make it difficult to begin even simple tasks, pushing everything behind schedule before the day has even started, according to Alpert.
For others, the struggle happens in the in-between moments. Shifting from one activity to another can feel surprisingly uncomfortable, so they linger longer than intended and lose time without noticing.
Anxiety is a major factor behind why some people have trouble being on time, according to experts. (iStock)
Others may get caught up in the details, as perfectionism keeps them adjusting or “fixing one more thing” as the minutes slip away, Alpert said.
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Another major factor, the expert shared, is that many people simply misjudge how long tasks take. Their internal sense of time is often inaccurate, which leads them to assume they can fit far more into a day than is realistically possible.
‘Time audit’
Alpert often recommends that his clients perform a simple “time audit,” where they track how long they think a routine task will take and then time it in real life. This can help them rebuild a more accurate internal clock, he said.
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“Adding 10 to 15 minutes of buffer between activities reduces the frantic rushing that leads to chronic lateness,” he said.
Many people with ADHD have a difficult time recognizing how quickly minutes pass or how long tasks truly take. (iStock)
Despite the challenges lateness can create, Alpert said people don’t have to be stuck with these habits forever. With the right support and consistent strategies, meaningful change is possible.
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“Strong routines, alarms, checklists and accurate time estimates compensate for traits that don’t naturally disappear,” he added.
People who find that lateness is affecting their everyday life and relationships may benefit from discussing their concerns with a healthcare provider or mental health professional.
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The holidays are known to be a source of stress, between traveling, preparing for family gatherings and indulging in lots of food and drinks.
The uptick of activity can actually put a strain on the heart, a phenomenon known as “holiday heart syndrome.”
Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Jeremy London addressed this elevated risk in a recent Instagram post, sharing how heart attacks consistently rise around the holidays.
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“Every year, like clockwork, we see a spike in heart attacks around Christmas and New Year’s,” the South Carolina-based surgeon said. “In fact, Christmas Eve is the highest-risk day of the year.”
This is due to a shift in behavior, specifically drinking and eating too much, moving less and being stressed out, according to London. “Emotional stress, financial stress, the increased pace of the holidays, increased obligations,” he listed.
Cold weather also causes vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels), according to London, which increases the risk of plaque rupture and the potential for heart attack.
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Dr. Glenn Hirsch, chief of the division of cardiology at National Jewish Health in New York, noted in an interview with Fox News Digital that holiday heart syndrome typically refers to the onset of an abnormal heart rhythm, or atrial fibrillation.
This can happen after an episode of binge-drinking alcohol, Hirsch said, which can be exacerbated by holiday celebrations.
Binge-drinking at any time can drive atrial fibrillation, a cardiologist cautioned. (iStock)
“It’s often a combination of overdoing the alcohol intake along with high salt intake and large meals that can trigger it,” he said. “Adding travel, stress and less sleep, and it lowers the threshold to go into that rhythm.”
The biggest risk related to atrial fibrillation, according to Hirsch, is stroke and other complications from blood clots. Untreated atrial fibrillation can lead to heart failure after a long period of time.
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“The risk of atrial fibrillation increases with age, but also underlying cardiovascular disease risk factors increase the risk, such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, sleep apnea and chronic kidney disease,” he added.
Christmas Eve is the “highest risk day of the year” for heart attacks, according to one cardiologist. (iStock)
Preventing a holiday heart event
Holiday heart syndrome is preventable, as Hirsch reminds people that “moderation is key” when celebrating.
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The expert recommends avoiding binge-drinking, overeating (especially salty foods) and dehydration, while managing stress levels and prioritizing adequate sleep.
“Don’t forget to exercise,” he added. “Even getting in at least 5,000 to 10,000 steps during the holiday can help lower risk, [while] also burning some of the additional calories we are often consuming around the holidays.”
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London agreed, stating in his video that “movement is medicine” and encouraging people to get out and move every day.
The various stresses of the holidays can have physical consequences on the body, doctors warn. (iStock)
It’s also important to stay on schedule with any prescribed medications, London emphasized. He encourages setting reminder alerts, even during the holiday break.
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“Prioritize sleep and mindfulness,” he added. “Take care of yourself during this stressful time.”
London also warned that many people delay having certain health concerns checked out until after the holidays, further worsening these conditions.
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“Don’t ignore your symptoms,” he advised. “If you don’t feel right, respond.”
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Flu season is among us, and a new strain has emerged as a major threat.
Influenza A H3N2, or the subclade K variant, has been detected as the culprit in rising global cases, including in the U.S.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Neil Maniar, professor of public health practice at Boston’s Northeastern University, shared details on the early severity of this emerging strain.
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“It’s becoming evident that this is a pretty severe variant of the flu,” he said. “Certainly in other parts of the world where this variant has been prevalent, it’s caused some severe illness, and we’re seeing an aggressive flu season already.”
Influenza A H3N2, or the subclade K variant, has been detected as the culprit in rising global cases. (iStock)
The variant seems to differ from prior strains of the flu, with heightened versions of typical symptoms like fever, chills, headache, fatigue, cough, sore throat and runny nose.
Subclade K is the “perfect storm” for an aggressive flu season, Maniar suggested, as vaccination rates overall are down and this year’s flu vaccine does not address this specific strain.
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“The vaccine is very important to get, but because it’s not perfectly aligned with this variant, I think that’s also contributing to some degree to the severity of cases we’re seeing,” he said. “We’re going in [to this flu season] with lower vaccination rates and a variant that in itself seems to be more aggressive.”
“There’s a lot of concern that this could be a particularly difficult flu season, both in terms of the total number of cases [and] the severity of those cases.”
Staying indoors during the colder months increases the risk of exposure to winter illness. (iStock)
Because subclade K is “quite different” from prior variants, Maniar said there is less natural immunity at the community level, further increasing the risk of spread and severity.
Those who are unvaccinated are also at risk of experiencing more severe symptoms, as well as a higher risk of hospitalization, the doctor emphasized.
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In addition to getting vaccinated, the doctor recommends washing hands frequently and properly. While the flu can spread via airborne transmission, a variety of other illnesses, like norovirus, can stick to surfaces for up to two weeks, he added.
The holiday season also boosts the risk of infection, as gatherings, large events, and packed planes, trains and buses can expose people to others who are sick.
The flu vaccine can help to prevent hospitalization and reduce severe symptoms, doctors agree. (iStock)
Those who are not feeling well or exhibiting symptoms should “please stay home,” Maniar advised — “especially if you think you are in that contagious period of the flu or any of these other illnesses that we’re seeing … whether it’s norovirus or COVID or RSV.”
“If you’re not feeling well, stay home. That’s a great way to recover faster and to ensure that you’re not going to get others around you sick.”
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For those who are unsure of their health status or diagnosis, Maniar recommends seeing a healthcare provider to get tested. Some providers may be able to prescribe medication to reduce the severity and duration of the illness.
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“It’s important that everyone stays vigilant and tries to take care of themselves and their families,” he added.
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