Crackpots

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 …

Politico reports: President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate former presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a person with direct knowledge of the selection. The expected pick, which will roil many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health and …

“The stuff that he eats is really, like, bad. Campaign food is always bad, but the food that goes onto that airplane is like just poison. You have a choice between—you don’t have the choice, you’re either given KFC or Big Macs. “That’s when you’re lucky and then the rest of the stuff I consider kind of inedible. And then …

Mother Jones reports: Anti-vaccine activist and Donald Trump transition team member Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had said he’d fire and replace 600 people from the National Institutes of Health on “day one” of a second Trump term. The NIH is one of the public health agencies Kennedy loathes the most—and despite still lacking any defined role in a new administration, …

Michael Bloomberg writes for Bloomberg News: Trump should remember that Kennedy spread lies about the Covid vaccine, falsely calling it the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” In any position of influence, Kennedy would jeopardize decades of hard-won advances in public health and put American lives needlessly at risk. Thanks to vaccines, afflictions such as polio are now rare. Smallpox has been …

From the medical site STAT News: The health community is spinning with worry about the fate of science and evidence-based medicine if Trump makes good on his promise to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” on the nation’s leading health agencies. We are particularly concerned that RFK highlighted nutraceuticals, a subtype of dietary supplement, and peptide hormones, a common …

Law & Crime reports: So-called “Kraken” attorney Sidney Powell was instructed to provide Dominion Voting Systems with various and substantial documents in a discovery order issued by a federal court on Friday. In the case, the initial lawsuit was filed by the voting machine business against Powell in January 2021 — alleging the Texas-based lawyer defamed the company by claiming …

Mother Jones reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has set up a website to solicit suggestions for key Cabinet roles. Anyone can submit a name and vote for their favorite nominees across 12 areas of government, including health, food and agriculture, education, technology, and more. Some of the most popular nominees for include: Dr. Simone Gold for the Department of Health …

The Florida Phoenix reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday endorsed his own controversial State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo for a top health care position in the next Trump administration. DeSantis went on social media, where he called on his followers to repost a picture of Ladapo if they want to see him serve as secretary of the Department of Health …

Newsmax host Todd Starnes writes: It’s very possible that people like Liz Cheney and the Democrats and the Media are under the control of a demonic spirit. That’s the only plausible explanation for their anti-Trump bloodlust. What we need to be talking about his how Liz Cheney and her side of the political divide tried to put a bullet in …

Courthouse News reports: Doctors skeptical of the efficacy of vaccines — represented by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — asked the Supreme Court for emergency intervention Monday to prevent medical boards from punishing health care workers for spreading vaccine disinformation that threatens to erode public trust in the medical profession. “The court should speak clearly and decisively to state actors, professional …

“Not since we dropped the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, the second one in August of 1945, and decided that we were gods and that God himself no longer existed — since then, we have been a secular society, and that’s why we’re now being destroyed in my view. “But even if you don’t buy any of that, you have to …

The Associated Press reports: A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board. Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department. Of the more …

The Associated Press reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office. Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and …

The Washington Post reports: Florida’s top health official, whose tenure has been marked by his warnings against vaccines, threats to TV stations for running abortion ads and frequent clashes with public health experts, has emerged as a candidate to run the Department of Health and Human Services in a potential Trump administration. Joseph A. Ladapo is on a list of …

The Huffington Post reports: Nicole Shanahan, the former running mate of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appeared to promote a conspiracy theory about government-led child abuse Thursday during an event featuring GOP nominee Donald Trump. “The parading of Jill Biden in a panda suit yesterday — right in front of our eyes,” Shanahan said in her speech at …

“Well you know, brother, in the wrestling business, when you’re getting ready to draw some big money, you got to shoot an angle, put some hot spice on the feud. And when I had Trump in the back at the Garden, I said, ‘You know something? This Robert Kennedy Jr, he’s onto something with nutrition.’ But if you tag team …

CNN reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told supporters on Monday that former President Donald Trump has promised to give him “control” of several public health agencies, including the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture, if he wins a second term in November. “The key that I think I’m – you know, that President …