Covidiots

Florida Politics reports: Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo continues to speak out against fluoride in the water supply, saying it’s “clearly something that was far riskier than how it was presented” by advocates of the practice. “It really is insane to keep on doing it,” Ladapo said. “You just can’t justify it.” During a recent interview on the CR Podcast with …

Axios reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes the CIA had a role in assassinating his uncle, President John F. Kennedy — part of RFK Jr.’s motivation for pushing his daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, for deputy CIA director, Axios has learned. President-elect Trump feels indebted to RFK Jr., his pick for secretary of Health and Human Services, for his help in …

NOTUS reports: Do cell phones and 5G cause cancer? It’s a question that has plagued Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and if Kennedy is confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, it’s one he will have power to explore. “The next-generation telecommunications network should be discontinued until it has been ‘sufficiently demonstrated that there are no …

Raw Story reports: New reporting flagged what it called an “unusual” application to work for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in which applicants are asked a slew of bizarre questions, including a pattern completion test and even whether they have an interest in having “sexual experiences with another person.” Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the Trump transition team, confirmed to Puck …

The New York Times reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is in line to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in the next Trump administration, is well-known for promoting conspiracy theories and vaccine skepticism in the United States. But Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, has also spent years working abroad to undermine policies that have been pillars of …

The Hill reports: Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the FDA during President-elect Trump’s first term, expressed concerns with his pick of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Humans Services due to his anti-vaccine advocacy. “I think if RFK follows through on his intentions, and I believe he will, and I believe he can, it …

From a Washington Post op-ed: It is certainly possible that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be Health and Human Services secretary, will move to restrict vaccine access. A likely first target is the coronavirus vaccine. Kennedy could instruct the CDC to remove the shot from its recommended list of vaccines, which would mean insurers no longer …

NBC News reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a dark view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2019, he called the federal agency’s vaccine division a fascist enterprise and accused it of knowingly hurting children. He also compared what he saw as a widespread conspiracy to hide harms from the child vaccination program to the cover-up of …

The Hill reports: President-elect Trump’s choice for deputy secretary of Health and Human Services is Jim O’Neill, an investor and historically close associate of billionaire Peter Thiel, the president-elect said Tuesday. O’Neill has also held roles as managing director at Thiel’s Mithril Capital Management and principal associate deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services during former President …

The New York Times reports: President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday evening that he had selected Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford physician and economist whose authorship of an anti-lockdown treatise during the coronavirus pandemic made him a central figure in a bitter public health debate, to be the director of the National Institutes of Health. If confirmed by the …

Politico reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is enlisting associates with close ties to anti-vaccine organizations to help vet and interview candidates for senior roles at the Department of Health and Human Services, even as he publicly seeks to distance himself from the movement he once led. At least three informal advisers connected to the anti-vaccine movement are assisting Kennedy in …

CBS News reports: President-elect Donald Trump nominated Dr. Marty Makary Friday to lead the Food and Drug Administration, selecting a surgeon and author who opposed vaccine mandates and some other public health measures during the coronavirus pandemic. Makary, a Johns Hopkins University professor, is the latest in a string of Trump nominees who have declared the U.S. health system to …

USA Today reports: The only person Eliza Cooney told what happened was her mom. This summer, she went public with her story. About how Kennedy, a man closer to her father’s age really, groped her when she worked as a live-in nanny for his family. She was 23 years old. One night, there was a meeting in the family kitchen …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court late on Wednesday rejected an attempt by Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to protect doctors being investigated in Washington state for allegedly spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 virus. The emergency application was denied by Justice Elena Kagan on behalf of the court. “We hope that one day …

Mediaite reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voiced his support for conspiracy theories claiming the government intentionally caused the Covid-19 pandemic in video clips unearthed by The Bulwark. These newly unearthed video clips are far from Kennedy’s first foray into conspiratorial waters. He has blamed antidepressants for mass shootings, pushed conspiratorial nonsense about chemtrails, and claimed that Covid-19 could have been …

Politico reports: Democratic-aligned health care advocacy groups are putting together a strategy to fight Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be HHS secretary. During an organizing call on Monday, the details of which have not been reported publicly, more than 200 people from several dozen of those groups, along with other advocacy organizations, discussed strategies to oppose Kennedy’s nomination. That …

“I think that we’re talking about magnitudes of danger beyond erroneously making legal decisions. This is life or death. The HHS affects people from birth to their grave and is intimately connected with every state in the country. “So this could be very dangerous. I think it’s totally disqualifying for anyone who seeks to lead the major health agency in …

The Washington Post reports: Health officials around the world are alarmed over the likely impact of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a longtime vaccine skeptic who was tapped for the health secretary role this week — on global health. Experts from Samoa have been particularly vocal in sounding the alarm, citing the destructive impact of Kennedy’s rhetoric on the tiny …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: The Winter Haven City Commission voted Tuesday to stop adding fluoride to drinking water after a lengthy public comment period where residents shared health concerns. Commissioners voted 3-2 to remove the fluoride by January 1, or on a date “as soon as reasonably practical thereafter.” Commissioner Brad Dantzler suggested giving some of the estimated $48,000 saved …

From the New York Post editorial board: The overriding rule of medicine is: First, do no harm. We’re certain installing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head Health and Human Services breaks this rule. A radical, prolonged and confused transition ordered by a guy like RFK Jr., who will use his high office to spout his controversial beliefs, leaves a lot …