5 key health topics to watch at RFK Jr.'s Senate confirmation hearings

On Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to appear before the Senate Finance Committee for the first of two confirmation hearings as Trump’s nominee for health secretary.

On Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to appear before the Senate Finance Committee for the first of two confirmation hearings as President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

If confirmed, Kennedy would have sweeping control over a suite of 18 agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“This is the most important hearing of all of Trump’s Cabinet picks,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University. “The HHS secretary has enormous power over domestic health care, global health and directly oversees tens of thousands of scientists, doctors and nurses.” 

The hearing is expected to be contentious because of Kennedy’s controversial views, including his repeated false claims linking vaccines to autism — a theory debunked by decades of scientific research.In a financial disclosure dated Tuesday, Kennedy said that, as of December, he’s no longer serving as chairman or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit that he founded. The group has filed lawsuits against the federal government, including one challenging the authorization of the Covid vaccine for children. 

Kennedy will continue to collect fees over ongoing litigation over Gardasil, a vaccine from Merck that protects against HPV, according to the disclosure. The HPV vaccine prevents cervical and other cancers. In a statement to NBC News, Merck said in part, “The plaintiff’s allegations have no merit, and we remain committed to vigorously defending against these claims.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/rfk-jrs-confirmation-hearings-5-key-health-topics-watch-rcna188934


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