Health
Kennedy’s Views Mix Mistrust of Business With Unfounded Health Claims
Seven years after Americans celebrated the licensing of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine, President John F. Kennedy called on Congress to finance a nationwide vaccination program to stamp out what he called the “ancient enemies of our children”: infectious disease.
Now Kennedy’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is the nation’s chief critic of vaccines — a public health intervention that has saved millions of lives — and President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to become the next secretary of health and human services. Mr. Kennedy calls himself a vaccine safety activist. The press calls him a vaccine skeptic. His detractors call him an anti-vaxxer and a conspiracy theorist.
Whatever one calls him, Mr. Kennedy is a polarizing choice whose views on certain public health matters beyond vaccination are far outside the mainstream. He opposes fluoride in water. He favors raw milk, which the Food and Drug Administration deems risky. And he has promoted unproven therapies like hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19. His own relatives called his presidential bid “dangerous for our country.”
If there is a through line to Mr. Kennedy’s thinking, it appears to be a deep mistrust of corporate influence on health and medicine. In some cases, that has led him to support positions that are also embraced by public health professionals, including his push to get ultra-processed foods, which have been linked to obesity, off grocery store shelves. His disdain for profit-seeking pharmaceutical manufacturers and food companies drew applause on the campaign trail.
People close to him say his commitment to “make America healthy again” is heartfelt.
“This is his life’s mission,” said Brian Festa, a founder of We the Patriots U.S.A., a “medical freedom” group that has pushed back on vaccine mandates, who said he has known Mr. Kennedy for years.
But like Mr. Trump, Mr. Kennedy also has a tendency to float wild theories based on scanty evidence. And he has hinted at taking actions, like prosecuting leading medical journals, that have unnerved the medical community. On Friday, many leading public health experts reacted to his nomination with alarm.
“This is the first time we’ve ever had someone that walking in the door whose public views, you just can’t trust,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, which represents 25,000 public health professionals.
He called Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, “totally unprepared, by skill and by training,” for the job of secretary, which involves managing a department with more than 80,000 employees and 13 operating divisions, overseeing everything from Medicare to biomedical research.
Mike Pence, the former vice president under Mr. Trump, publicly opposed Mr. Kennedy’s nomination on Friday, citing his support for abortion rights.
The pharmaceutical industry’s trade group issued a statement neither praising nor criticizing Mr. Kennedy’s nomination. Calling itself “a crown jewel of the American economy,” the group vowed to “work with the Trump administration to further strengthen our innovation ecosystem and improve health care for patients.” Shares of stock in vaccine makers fell after Mr. Trump announced his selection of Mr. Kennedy on Thursday.
Mr. Kennedy did not respond to a request for an interview, and he has not publicly outlined his priorities. But if he is confirmed by the Senate, he would have wide latitude as health secretary, and has forecast his plans to shake things up.
In an interview in January 2024 with Dr. Mark Hyman, before he suspended his own independent presidential campaign and endorsed Mr. Trump, he spoke about what he would do if elected, outlining some of his lesser-known goals.
He said he would steer the nearly $48 billion annual budget of the National Institutes of Health away from drug development and toward studies that would explain high rates of chronic disease. He also said he would seek to prosecute medical journals like The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine under the federal anti-corruption statute.
“I’m going to litigate against you under the racketeering laws, under the general tort laws,” he said during the interview. “I’m going to find a way to sue you unless you come up with a plan right now to show how you’re going to start publishing real science and stop retracting the real science and publishing the fake pharmaceutical science by these phony industry mercenaries, scientists.”
More recently, Mr. Kennedy has said Mr. Trump would advise communities to stop fluoridating their water, contradicting the advice of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which cites fluoridation to reduce tooth decay as on of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century. He has said he would slash 600 jobs at the N.I.H. and has instructed Food and Drug Administration officials to “preserve your records” and “pack your bags.”
Mr. Kennedy has argued that the F.D.A. is a victim of “corporate capture.” Under a three-decade-old “user fee” program, drug, device and biotech companies make payments to the agency partly to seek product approvals. The fees now account for nearly half the F.D.A.’s budget.
“The F.D.A. is just a sock puppet to the industries it is supposed to regulate,” Mr. Kennedy said in the interview with Dr. Hyman. “All of this is easily changed. I’m not saying I’m going to be able to accomplish it all on Day 1, but I’m going to accomplish it very quickly.”
Public health experts typically focus on Mr. Kennedy’s views on vaccination. Mr. Kennedy has cast doubt on Covid vaccines and has promoted the long-debunked theory that vaccines cause autism. His detractors say that his critiques of vaccine safety have cost lives, pointing in particular to a visit Mr. Kennedy made to Samoa in 2019.
That year, the island nation put its measles vaccination program on hold after the death of two infants who had received measles shots. Mr. Kennedy visited and, according to news reports, met with a prominent vaccine opponent, giving a boost to the anti-vaccination movement there.
The deaths were subsequently attributed to a mistake by the nurses who administered the vaccine, not to the vaccine itself. But the dip in vaccination rates led to a measles outbreak and 83 deaths.
Dr. Jonathan E. Howard, an associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at New York University who has been tracking the anti-vaccine movement for the past 15 years, said Mr. Kennedy would be “a disaster” as health secretary, adding, “He is an anti-vaccine paranoid crank who has a trail of dead children in Samoa.”
Often, Mr. Kennedy uses a “we don’t know” construction to spin out unproven theories, such as his suggestion that the coronavirus might have been engineered to attack specific races.
“Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people,” Mr. Kennedy said at a fund-raiser, according to The New York Post. “The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
“We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not, but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact,” he added.
Mr. Kennedy was apparently referring to a 2020 study looking at genetic differences in Covid-19 patients, but numerous studies examining racial disparities attribute them to socioeconomic factors, including poverty and lack of access to health care.
Mr. Kennedy also has repeatedly suggested that chemicals in the water might be responsible for “sexual dysphoria” in children. In a clip aired by CNN, he noted that atrazine, a herbicide sometimes found in well water in agricultural areas, will “concentrate and forcibly feminize” frogs. He went on, “What this does to sexual development in children, nobody knows.”
There is no evidence that the chemical, typically used on farms to kill weeds, causes the same effects in children, although studies show it has been linked to birth defects in babies whose mothers are exposed to it. But according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an arm of the C.D.C., “Most people are not exposed to atrazine on a regular basis.”
Mr. Kennedy came to health advocacy through his work as an environmental lawyer. In 1999, he was named a hero of the planet by Time magazine for his work with the Riverkeeper organization, among the groups credited with cleaning up New York’s polluted Hudson River. One of his aims was to get mercury out of waterways.
In a speech last year at Hillsdale College, he said that in 2005, when he was giving speeches around the country, mothers of children with autism approached him to ask him to take a look at vaccines, some of which had in the past contained a mercury-based preservative, thimerosal. The preservative was removed by manufacturers in 2001 at the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and subsequent studies showed no link between the preservative and autism.
In the years since, Mr. Kennedy has made millions of dollars railing against vaccines. The windfall has come through books, including one denigrating Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the former government scientist both celebrated and despised for his work on Covid, and through Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit he has used as a platform to sow doubts about vaccination.
Allies of Mr. Kennedy say he has earned the right to make policy, given the support he generated while campaigning alongside Mr. Trump. Calley Means, a health care entrepreneur who has been an adviser to Mr. Kennedy and who was instrumental in connecting him to Mr. Trump, said in an interview last week that Mr. Kennedy had “a true mandate to take on broken health care institutions, and to deliver the change.”
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South Carolina is facing a major measles outbreak, resulting in the quarantine of hundreds of residents.
The South Carolina Department of Health (DPH) reported in a media briefing on Wednesday that the current number of measles cases has reached 111 as part of the current Spartanburg County outbreak.
DPH first reported a measles outbreak in the Upstate region on Oct. 2.
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The health department confirmed that 254 people are currently in quarantine and 16 are in isolation to prevent further spread.
The health department confirmed that 254 people are currently in quarantine in the upstate region. (Getty Images)
“This significant jump in cases is unfortunate,” a DPH spokesperson commented on the outbreak.
Public exposure was identified at Inman Intermediate School, with 43 of their students in quarantine.
“This significant jump in cases is unfortunate.”
Eight other intermediate and middle schools in the area are also reportedly undergoing quarantine. The DPH said multiple students have had to quarantine twice due to repeat exposure.
“Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent the disruption that measles is causing to people’s education, to employment and other factors in people’s lives and our communities,” the spokesperson said.
“This significant jump in cases is unfortunate,” a DPH spokesperson commented on the current outbreak. (iStock)
Out of the 111 confirmed cases, 105 were unvaccinated. Receiving a vaccination within 72 hours has been shown to prevent measles infection, the DPH spokesperson noted.
Some cases are related to travel exposure, while others are from an unknown source, suggesting that measles is circulating in the community, the DPH noted.
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Connecticut has also reported its first measles case in four years, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
The department confirmed on Thursday that an unvaccinated child in Fairfield County, under the age of 10, was diagnosed with measles after recently traveling internationally.
“Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent the disruption that measles is causing,” a DPH spokesperson said. (iStock)
The child began to show symptoms several days later, including a runny nose, cough, congestion, fever and a rash starting at the head and spreading to the rest of the body.
The Connecticut DPH noted that measles is “highly contagious” and can spread quickly through the air via coughing or sneezing. The CDC has estimated that nine out of 10 unvaccinated individuals who encounter an infected person will develop the measles virus.
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According to the International Vaccine Access Center, more than 1,800 cases of measles have been reported in 2025, which is the most since the U.S. declared the virus eliminated in 2000. It is also the most cases recorded in three decades.
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“The single best way to protect your children and yourself from measles is to be vaccinated,” DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, M.D., wrote in a statement. “One dose of measles vaccine is about 93% effective, while two doses are about 97% effective.”
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A sperm donor whose samples helped conceive nearly 200 children across Europe unknowingly carried a cancer-causing genetic mutation — a hidden risk now tied to multiple childhood illnesses and early deaths.
An investigation led by the BBC and many other public service broadcasters revealed that the donations were made to Denmark’s European Sperm Bank (ESB). Those donations were then used by 67 fertility clinics in 14 countries over a 17-year span.
The donor, who was not identified, was paid to donate as a student beginning in 2005, according to the report.
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Although the donor passed the initial health screenings, he had hidden genetic mutations that damaged the TP53 gene, which helps to prevent cancer by repairing DNA damage or trigger the death of cancer cells.
When TP53 is mutated, those protective functions are lost, which can lead to uncontrolled cell division, accumulation of mutations and tumor growth, research has shown.
A sperm donor whose samples helped conceive nearly 200 children across Europe (not pictured) unknowingly carried a cancer-causing genetic mutation — a hidden risk now tied to multiple childhood illnesses and early deaths. (Getty Images)
Up to 20% of the man’s sperm would contain that mutated gene, and any children conceived from that affected sperm would have the mutation in every cell of their body, the BBC report stated.
As a result, these children would have a 90% risk of developing some type of cancer in their lifetime, including breast cancer, bone cancers, brain tumors and leukemia. This heightened risk is known as Li Fraumeni syndrome.
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Doctors raised these concerns at the annual congress of the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG), which was held in Milan in May 2025.
At that conference, Edwige Kasper — a specialist in cancer genetics at Rouen University Hospital in France — presented the case of the sperm donor whose genetic material carried the harmful variant.
“This is the abnormal dissemination of genetic disease. Not every man has 75 children across Europe.”
It was reported that 23 children had been confirmed to have the variant at that time, 10 of which had already been diagnosed with cancer.
The actual number is likely much higher, the report surmised, as at least 197 children were born from the donated sperm — but not all data has been collected.
Kasper called for a limit on the number of births or families for a single donor in Europe.
“We can’t do whole-genome sequencing for all sperm donors — I’m not arguing for that,” she said. “But this is the abnormal dissemination of genetic disease. Not every man has 75 children across Europe.”
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She also recommended that children born from this donor’s sperm undergo genetic counseling.
“We have some children that have already developed two different cancers, and some of them have already died at a very early age,” Kasper recently told the investigators.
Up to 20% of the man’s sperm would contain that mutated gene, and any children conceived from that affected sperm would have the mutation in every cell of their body, the BBC report stated. (iStock)
There is no worldwide law that limits how many times a donor’s sperm can be used or how many children may be born from a single donor, according to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).
However, individual countries may have their own rules or guidelines surrounding sperm donor usage. The ESHRE recently proposed a cap of 50 families per donor as an international limit.
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Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, commented on these developments to Fox News Digital.
“This awful story emphasizes the growing need for up-to-date genetic screening for all donors,” he said. “It also provides context for the idea that knowing the donor provides an advantage.”
“This awful story emphasizes the growing need for up-to-date genetic screening for all donors,” Dr. Marc Siegel said. (iStock)
“Genetic screening, including for oncogenes (genes that have the potential to cause cancer) is improving dramatically, and all use of sperm donations must include it,” Siegel went on.
He also called for AI to be used to improve and speed up the process.
“When a propensity for disease is suspected, the sperm must be discarded,” the doctor added.
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In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, the European Sperm Bank expressed “deepest sympathy” for the families involved.
“We are deeply affected by the case and the impact that the rare TP53 mutation has on a number of families, children and the donor. They have our deepest sympathy,” the ESP said.
The American Society of Reproductive Medicine provided its guidance on embryo and gamete donation, which stated in part that all prospective donors should undergo “appropriate genetic evaluation.” (iStock)
“ESB tests and performs an individual medical assessment of all donors in full compliance with recognized and scientific practice and legislation.”
In the case of this particular sperm donor with the TP53 mutation, the ESB noted that it occurs only in a small part of the donor’s sperm cells and not in the rest of the body.
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“In such cases, the donor himself and his family members are not ill, and a mutation of this type is not detected preventively by genetic screening,” the agency said.
When the ESB later confirmed the mutation in 2023, the donor was “immediately blocked” and authorities and clinics were notified.
“Donors should be healthy and have no history to suggest hereditary disease.”
“The clinics are responsible for informing the patients, partly because we as a sperm bank do not necessarily know the patients, and because the patients’ own treating physicians are best equipped to advise them in the specific situation,” the agency stated.
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When contacted by Fox News Digital, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) provided its guidance on embryo and gamete donation, which stated in part that all prospective donors should undergo “appropriate genetic evaluation.”
“Donors should be healthy and have no history to suggest hereditary disease,” the ASRM continued.
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Parents with concerns are encouraged to contact both their treating clinic and the relevant fertility authority in that country.
GLP-1 weight loss pill in development
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel discusses advancements in weight loss drugs, safety concerns surrounding nicotine patches and his interview with FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary on vaccine protocol.
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Scientists in Sweden have created a new pill designed to help the body burn fat and control blood sugar in a different way than popular GLP-1 drugs, like Ozempic.
While injectable GLP-1s work by suppressing appetite, this new treatment boosts metabolism in the muscles.
A study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University included both an early animal study and a human clinical trial with 48 healthy adults and 25 people with type 2 diabetes, according to a press release.
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The new oral medication was found to successfully control blood glucose, boost fat burning and retain muscle mass in animals, while getting high marks for tolerability and safety in humans.
It was also found to have fewer side effects than GLP-1s like semaglutides and tirzepatides, which are known to cause appetite loss, gastrointestinal distress and muscle wasting, the researchers noted.
While injectable GLP-1s work by suppressing appetite, this new treatment boosts metabolism in the muscles. (iStock)
The experimental medication uses a new form of beta-2 agonist that benefits muscle function while also avoiding overstimulation of the heart, which has been identified as a potential safety concern of older versions.
The findings were published this week in the journal Cell.
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Because the new oral drug acts via a different mechanism than appetite-suppressing medications, it could be used alone or in combination with GLP-1s, the researchers noted.
“Our results point to a future where we can improve metabolic health without losing muscle mass,” said Tore Bengtsson, professor at the Department of Molecular Bioscience at Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, in the release. “Muscles are important in both type 2 diabetes and obesity, and muscle mass is also directly correlated with life expectancy.”
“Muscles are important in both type 2 diabetes and obesity, and muscle mass is also directly correlated with life expectancy.” (iStock)
This medication has the potential to be of “great importance” for patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity, according to Shane C. Wright, assistant professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet.
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“Our substance appears to promote healthy weight loss and, in addition, patients do not have to take injections,” he added.
Dr. Trey Wickham, interim chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia, was not involved in the study but shared his reaction to the publication in the journal Cell.
“Our results point to a future where we can improve metabolic health without losing muscle mass.”
“This compound’s mechanism of action could address some specific metabolic concerns with previous weight reduction therapies, such as the loss of both muscle and fat tissue,” Wickham told Fox News Digital.
“Although the reported preliminary results are interesting, rigorous testing involving larger longitudinal trials are necessary to ensure human long-term safety and understand the potential role of this compound in the comprehensive, evidence-based treatment of obesity and diabetes.”
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The study had some limitations, the researchers noted, chiefly that the preclinical studies in mice fail to capture the “complex nature of these diseases” in humans.
Structural studies are needed to understand exactly how the drug works.
“This compound’s mechanism of action could address some specific metabolic concerns with previous weight reduction therapies, such as the loss of both muscle and fat tissue,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Our phase 1 data show that compound 15 is well-tolerated; however, conclusive clinical efficacy data (on how the drug controls glucose metabolism) are currently still lacking.”
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Looking ahead, the company that developed the drug, Atrogi AB, plans to conduct a larger phase 2 clinical trial with a larger, more diverse population, including people with obesity.
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The study was supported in part by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Society for Medical Research and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Uppsala University, University of Copenhagen, Monash University and University of Queensland all collaborated with the lead researchers.
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