Letter to the Editor of the NY Times, By Irwin Redlener
Kennedy and the a.m.a.
Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times
Re “Kennedy Tried to Quash Shots as Covid Raged,” front page, Jan. 18):
New reporting about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s aggressive efforts to ban the Covid vaccine during the height of the deadly pandemic should be enough to definitively reject his nomination as secretary of health and human services.
But that’s only the latest revelation about Mr. Kennedy, an aggressive anti-science conspiracist who, among other positions harmful to the public’s health, has spread dangerous misinformation undermining H.I.V./AIDS prevention and treatment in Africa. And his spreading of disinformation about vaccines is one of the main factors cited behind a lethal outbreak of measles in Samoa.
It’s no surprise that thousands of doctors have spoken out and signed petitions opposing Mr. Kennedy’s confirmation to lead H.H.S., a huge federal agency with 80,000 employees, a $1.8 trillion budget and massive influence over global health policies and strategies.
And it’s hard to imagine a secretary of the agency who has publicly called for an eight-year ban on infectious disease research when the world is facing the strong possibility of a global pandemic that could be more deadly than the Covid-19 disaster.
So with all that we know about Mr. Kennedy’s truly outlandish ideas, it’s particularly surprising that we have heard nary a word from the American Medical Association and other major medical organizations that should be strongly and publicly opposing Mr. Kennedy’s nomination. Now is their time to protect the nation’s health — not just the special interests of their members.
But now, unfortunately for the country, the A.M.A. is inexplicably M.I.A.
As seen in:
