Rfk Jr Continues To Make Dubious Health Claims As Cdc Roils Under His Leadership

In a week of chaos astatine nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Donald Trump’s wellness caput Robert F Kennedy Jr has continued to make questionable aesculapian and wellness claims – and has been slammed for them by experts and lawmakers alike.

In caller days, Kennedy has been facing expanding calls for his resignation pursuing nan Trump administration’s firing of CDC head Susan Monarez, which successful move prompted 4 different apical officials to discontinue nan agency. The chaos crossed US wellness agencies besides comes arsenic Kennedy released a slew of arguable and contradictory rules surrounding Covid-19 vaccines.

On apical of each this turmoil, Kennedy has besides been met pinch important backlash for a fistful of outlandish remarks and revelations, which person only fueled nan contention surrounding his activity astatine nan wellness department.

After nan deadly wide schoolhouse shooting successful Minneapolis this week wherever 2 children were killed and 17 others injured, Kennedy suggested that psychiatric narcotics whitethorn beryllium contributing to nan emergence successful weapon unit crossed nan country.

During an quality connected Fox & Friends, big Brian Kilmeade asked Kennedy if nan wellness section was investigating whether medications utilized to dainty gender dysphoria mightiness beryllium linked to schoolhouse shootings.

According to tribunal documents reviewed by nan Guardian, nan 23-year-old shooter, Robin Westman, had changed their commencement sanction from Robert to Robin because they identified arsenic a woman.

In consequence to Kilmeade’s question, Kennedy, without acknowledging nan prevalence and easy accessibility of firearms crossed nan US – said that his section was “launching studies connected nan imaginable publication of immoderate of nan SSRI [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors] narcotics and immoderate of nan different psychiatric narcotics that mightiness beryllium contributing to violence”.

Kennedy’s comments triggered disapproval from Minnesota legislator Tina Smith, who took to X and wrote: “I situation you to spell to Annunciation School and show our grieving community, successful effect, guns don’t termination kids, antidepressants do. Just unopen up. Stop peddling bullshit. You should beryllium fired.”

This week, Kennedy besides suggested that he could place “mitochondrial challenges” successful children astatine airports conscionable by looking astatine them.

Speaking astatine an arena successful Texas alongside nan state’s governor, Greg Abbott, Kennedy claimed: “I’m looking astatine kids arsenic I locomotion done nan airports today, arsenic I locomotion down nan street, and I spot these kids that are conscionable overburdened pinch mitochondrial challenges, pinch inflammation. You tin show from their faces, from their assemblage movements, and from their deficiency of societal connection. And I cognize that that’s not really our children are expected to look.”

In response, Ashish Jha, erstwhile White House Covid-19 consequence coordinator nether nan Biden administration, said: “I’m sorry but what?”

“This is wacky, flat-earth, voodoo stuff, people. This is not normal,” Jha added connected X.

Then, successful a revelation connected Thursday, Demetre Daskalakis – who precocious resigned arsenic head of nan National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases successful protestation of Monarez’s firing – revealed that Kennedy had ne'er been briefed by CDC experts earlier making awesome nationalist wellness decisions.

Speaking to CNN, Daskalakis said: “I deliberation that different important point to inquire nan caput is, has he been briefed by a CDC master connected anything, specifically measles, Covid-19, flu? I deliberation that group should inquire him that successful that hearing,” referring to Kennedy’s upcoming proceeding earlier nan Senate finance committee.

Upon being asked what Kennedy’s reply would be, Daskalakis said: “The reply is ‘no’. No 1 from my halfway has ever briefed him connected immoderate of those topics … He’s getting accusation from somewhere, but that accusation is not coming from CDC experts.”

In a abstracted connection to nan Daily Beast, Daskalakis said: “It’s not conscionable that he hasn’t asked us. I asked for america to beryllium capable to do briefings, and I was told by his agency of nan caput officials, immoderate of whom are now fired, that they would beryllium happy to person america do briefings, that they would scope retired to beryllium capable to group them up. They’ve ne'er done so.”

Since he assumed activity complete nan wellness department, Kennedy – a longtime anti-vaccine advocator – has fired wellness agency workers and entertained conspiracy theories. Last week, much than 750 existent and erstwhile labor astatine US wellness agencies signed a letter successful which they criticized Kennedy arsenic an “existential threat to nationalist health”.

The wellness agency workers went connected to impeach Kennedy of being “complicit successful dismantling America’s nationalist wellness infrastructure and endangering nan nation’s wellness by many times spreading inaccurate wellness information”.

The missive comes aft a deadly shooting at nan CDC office successful Atlanta earlier this month, erstwhile a 30-year-old gunman fired much than 180 rounds into nan buildings, sidesplitting a constabulary serviceman earlier dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to nan gunman’s father, nan shooter had been struggling pinch intelligence wellness issues and was influenced by misinformation that led him to judge nan Covid-19 vaccine was making him sick.