{"id":9258,"date":"2025-10-07T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/?p=9258"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:34:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:34:12","slug":"six-surgeons-general-its-our-duty-to-warn-the-nation-about-rfk-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/news\/six-surgeons-general-its-our-duty-to-warn-the-nation-about-rfk-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Six surgeons general: It\u2019s our duty to warn the nation about RFK Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

The writers are all former U.S. surgeons general.<\/em><\/p>\n

As former U.S. surgeons general appointed by every Republican and Democratic president since George H.W. Bush, we have collectively spent decades in service as the Nation\u2019s Doctor<\/a>. We took two sacred oaths in our lifetimes: first, as physicians who swore to care for our patients and, second, as public servants who committed to protecting the health of all Americans.<\/p>\n

Today, in keeping with those oaths, we are compelled to speak with one voice to say that the actions of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are endangering the health of the nation. Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy\u2019s policies and positions pose to the nation\u2019s health cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n

Despite differences in perspectives, we have always been united in an unwavering commitment to science and evidence-based public health. It is that shared principle that led us to this moment.<\/p>\n

Over recent months, we have watched with increasing alarm as the foundations of our nation\u2019s public health system have been undermined. Science and expertise have taken a back seat to ideology and misinformation. Morale has plummeted in our health agencies, and talent is fleeing at a time when we face rising threats \u2014 from resurgent infectious diseases to worsening chronic illnesses.<\/p>\n

Repairing this damage requires a leader who respects scientific integrity and transparency, listens to experts and can restore trust to the federal health apparatus. Instead, Kennedy has become a driving force behind this crisis.<\/p>\n

HHS is the one of the largest civilian agencies<\/a> in the federal government, with a nearly $2 trillion budget<\/a> and oversight of programs and agencies that touch every American family and business: Medicare, Medicaid, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and more. It requires steady, ethical leadership grounded in science.<\/p>\n

By contrast, Kennedy has spent decades advancing dangerous and discredited claims about vaccines \u2014 most notoriously, the thoroughly discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism<\/a>. He has promoted misinformation about the HPV vaccine<\/a>, which protects against cervical cancer, and he has repeatedly misrepresented the risks of mRNA technology<\/a> and coronavirus vaccines, despite their lifesaving impact during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

This year, as the United States faced its worst measles outbreak in more than 30 years<\/a>, Kennedy de-emphasized vaccination<\/a> and directed agency resources toward unproven vitamin therapies<\/a>. The result: months-long outbreak<\/a>, three preventable deaths and the first measles-related child death in the U.S. in over two decades.<\/p>\n

More recently, Kennedy removed every member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices<\/a>, replacing its scientific experts with individuals who often lacked basic qualifications, some of whom are vaccine conspiracy theorists. The new committee has already begun casting doubt<\/a> on the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, despite decades of data affirming its effectiveness and strong safety profile.<\/p>\n

Discrediting vaccines undermines one of the most important public health tools in American history. Thanks to widespread immunization, we eradicated smallpox, eliminated polio in the U.S. and prevented an estimated 1.1 million deaths and 508 million infections among children born between 1994 and 2023<\/a>. Operation Warp Speed, initiated under President Donald Trump, brought lifesaving mRNA vaccines to the world in record time.<\/p>\n

Yet Kennedy continues to ignore science and the public\u2019s wishes. Most recently, HHS proposed new warning labels<\/a> on products containing acetaminophen (Tylenol), citing a supposed link between prenatal use and autism. This move has been widely condemned by the scientific and medical communities, who have pointed out that the available research is inconclusive and insufficient to justify such a warning. In an extraordinary and unprecedented response, the American Academy of Pediatrics<\/a>, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists<\/a> and other leading health organizations<\/a> issued public guidance urging physicians and patients to disregard HHS\u2019s recommendation. Instead of helping pregnant women make informed decisions during a critical period in their lives, Kennedy\u2019s decisions risk causing confusion, fear and harm.<\/p>\n

Rather than combating the rapid spread of health misinformation with facts and clarity, Kennedy is amplifying it. The consequences aren\u2019t abstract. They are measured in lives lost, disease outbreaks and an erosion of public trust that will take years to rebuild.<\/p>\n

It is essential to note that good science and public health require not only evidence but also people \u2014 the scientists, public health professionals and civil servants whose expertise protects millions of Americans. Yet under Kennedy\u2019s leadership, the HHS workforce has been badly damaged. He has silenced and sidelined hundreds of scientists, public health officials and medical professionals, creating an atmosphere of fear and distrust. Many of the nation\u2019s top public health professionals \u2014 people we have worked with during crises \u2014 have resigned or retired early. They describe a culture of intimidation, where scientific findings are censored, evidence is disregarded and career officials are pressured to rubber stamp conclusions that are not backed by science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The writers are all former U.S. surgeons general.<\/em><\/p>\n

As former U.S. surgeons general appointed by every Republican and Democratic president since George H.W. Bush, we have collectively spent decades in service as the Nation\u2019s Doctor<\/a>. We took two sacred oaths in our lifetimes: first, as physicians who swore to care for our patients and, second, as public servants who committed to protecting the health of all Americans.<\/p>\n

Today, in keeping with those oaths, we are compelled to speak with one voice to say that the actions of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are endangering the health of the nation. Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy\u2019s policies and positions pose to the nation\u2019s health cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n

Continue readingSix surgeons general: It\u2019s our duty to warn the nation about RFK Jr.<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[375,81,1301,571,130,1252,51,1318],"class_list":["post-9258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-anti-vaccine-movement","tag-anti-vaxxers","tag-kakistocracy","tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","tag-science-denial","tag-trump-regime","tag-united-states","tag-war-on-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9260,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9258\/revisions\/9260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillcoviding.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}