The "America First Global Health Strategy" is an oxymoron. Global health requires solidarity & int'l cooperation. Trump's actions have also created mayhem in global health. But the Strategy does identify better ways to conduct foreign aid @bmj.com www.bmj.com/cgi/content/...

Acting CDC Director O'Neill says "informed consent is back" but COVID vaccines are not mandated in any state. He implies COVID vaccines are risky. They are not. CDC halts combined MMRV vaccines. Expect a surge in chickenpox. None of this is science informed www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/the-...

NIH launches a $50m in autism research "to unlock causes." How odd. First, the President & HHS Secretary announce with great fanfare the cause of autism. And then they launch a study to find the cause Isn't research supposed to come first? Chasing hunches a waste of NIH resources

Trump and RFK’s advice on Tylenol & autism is cartoonish. Politicians shouldn’t be giving health advice. Their words on vaccines and Tylenol are reckless. It’s impossible to trust anything HHS says. Science & evidence don’t seem to matter.

Trump’s plan on autism makes a mockery of science. Vast research shows autism has complex causes. Yet RFK is selling the idea that he knows. No new studies. No peer review. No transparency. That’s not how science works.

ACIP's 2 day meeting was a train wreck, riddled with irregularities & devoid of science. In a well functioning government, national uniform recs are based on evidence. We don't want states issuing conflicting recs. But this is not a well functioning govt. And RFK is not a normal HHS Secretary

RFK names 5 new ACIP members He pledges "transparency", but publishes ACIP's agenda late, w/ no public input "Evidence-based science" is non-existent "Expertise" is absent w/ CDC's director & ACIP members unqualified & conflicted RFK is rushing to restrict access to vaccines

FDA may link COVID vaccines to child deaths using VAERS data. VAERS reports cannot be used to assess vaccine safety. There is no known causal link to the vaccine. If ACIP were staffed with real scientists, they would reject this out of hand. But science doesn't matter under RFK.

Please join us tomorrow for the @oneillinstitute Colloquium. We'll explore RFK's attacks on @CDCgov & vaccines I will moderate the panel featuring leading thinkers in vaccine law and policy Wednesday, September 10, from 1:20–2:50 ET Hotung Faculty Dining Room at Georgetown Law

RFK Jr. Has Declared Full-Blown War on CDC — The agency needs to be strengthened, not torn down @medpagetoday.bsky.social @gfriedman.bsky.social www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/the-...

RFK's MAHA Commission out today is a singular disappointment & failure Yes, we need major investments & regulation to reduce the crushing burden of chronic diseases. But the Report contains no new funding, no regulation, & no innovative thinking It just capitulates to industry

RFK’s claim that Tylenol may cause autism is unscientific. He draws broad conclusions from associational studies & doesn’t wait for the careful analysis. He shoots from the hip, goes public with his suspicions, & causes panic in the public

I can't stress enough that Florida's decision to end vaccine mandates is dangerous It will pose high risks to children and families in Florida, but the decision will profoundly harm all Americans as Floridians travel the country Vacations to Disney World will become more perilous

RFK Jr. to appoint 7 new members to ACIP. This simply is not how science is supposed to work. You don't get to hand pick unqualified & conflicted scientific advisers & then claim you are following science. It saddens me but the public cannot trust ACIP and CDC under this Health Secretary

Florida's decision to end school vaccine mandates is a blaring 5 star alarm. School vaccinations date back a century. This will cause great harm everywhere as unvaccinated kids travel in the US & globally. We'll see a frightening return of diseases that have long been eliminated

In a note to CDC staff, RFK says, "We ended the measles outbreak in Texas by surging vaccines" "And we have played a key role in coordinating the federal H5N1 bird flu response" Facts: RFK castigated measles vaccines & prolonged the outbreak The H5N1 response is weak & chaotic

With Jim O'Neill appointed as Interim CDC director, we're seeing a pattern First, RFK fires eminent scientists Then he appoints loyalists without credentials He then takes the advice of loyalists Finally he says, "you see, I have restored trust in science." RFK did the same thing with ACIP

RFK's selection of Jim O’Neill as Interim CDC Director tells you all you need to know. At today's HHS, loyalty and fidelity to political orthodoxy is the sole criteria for a high level health position. What's not needed are actual qualifications & deep public health experience.

So, today I finally got an official letter firing me from the scientific board of NIH's Fogarty International Center. The letter read: You "serve at the pleasure of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. As such, your appointment has been rescinded"

Monarez by law can only be fired by the president who has been silent. RFK fired her & she refuses to go. The sheer chaos is notable in addition to the lawlessness & thinly veiled attack on science & the CDC. Once the shining crown of federal agencies, CDC is now gutted

RFK’s firing of Susan Monarez with Trump’s blessing shows clearly that science is now a matter of political orthodoxy and blind political loyalty, rather than evidence-based. Make no mistake. Monarez lost her job because she wouldn’t fall in line with RFK’s anti-vaccine agenda

I’ve worked closely w/CDC for decades. CDC is the world’s leading public health agency. The firing of the first Senate confirmed director & resignation of senior officials is a tragedy for public health. Staff morale is plummeting. All this after CDC’s campus came under attack

Join me for the first session of the @oneillinstitute.bsky.social‬ 2025 Colloquium. We are kicking off the semester with a discussion on the MAHA Commission and if it can really make America healthy again. oneill.law.georgetown.edu/events/oneil...

Today, SCOTUS permitted Trump to resume mass termination of medical research grants. The justices have failed to be a constitutional check on the president. Congress has the spending power, not the president. Slashing research funding is political & will gut US scientific leadership.

RFK Jr. should reflect on why AAP has supported every CDC & HHS vaccine recommendation from every administration. Until now. Scientists have lost all trust in HHS under RFK. The agency is blatantly political. Here's why AAP supported COVID vaccines for children jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Draft of White House Report Suggests Kennedy Won’t Push Strict Pesticide Regulations www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/w... It was utterly predictable RFK would cave to industry jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

RFK Jr is the most ruinous HHS Sec in my lifetime. He lies & misleads about science & vaccines; he appoints hacks to vital posts; & he takes healthcare from the poor. But it would be a grave error to impeach him. He hasn't committed High Crimes & it would set a horrible precedent

Senator Blumenthal's letter to Sec Kennedy re Robert Malone is chilling. RFK Jr has spent a career fomenting distrust & even animosity toward ph officials. Not only should Malone be immediately dismissed from ACIP but also all ACIP members that he fired should be reinstated.

See the statement by Michele Goodwin & I on Trump & RFJ's attacks on independent scientific advisors. Bringing this close to home, I was recently dismissed from the Fogarty Int'l Center Board at NIH. No reason given other than political #StandUpforScience

Halting mRNA vaccine funding destroys Trump's legacy for Operation Warp Speed & is anything but America First. This will hobble US scientific innovation & weaken pandemic preparedness. Investments in cutting edge technologies is vital

In an upcoming interview w/ @BBC, I'll discuss HHS' misguided cut in mRNA vaccine research. mRNA COVID vaccines saved millions. It holds great promise for novel diseases like flu & is vital for pandemic response. RFK has had a long-held pet peeve against mRNA technology & vaccines

HHS' private health tracking system w/ Big Tech should worry all Americans. There are few privacy safeguards. Medical records are personal & intimate. Health records might be shared with insurers, businesses, ICE, & law enforcement I don't trust RFK & Oz with patient records

The Amer Academy of Pediatrics’ call to end non-medical exemptions for school vaccinations provoked a fierce anti-vax response. But there’s no legal or ethical reason for exemptions , which are being widely abused & leading to measles outbreaks

I’ve worked with USPSTF for decades. Firing the best scientists & installing handpicked loyalists isn’t the way science works. Why wouldn’t our government want rigorous unbiased public health advice? We can’t trust RFK Jr to make decisions in the public interest

To understand RFK's hypocrisy in adopting ACIP recs to remove thimerosal from flu vaccines see shorturl.at/Gm4rJ RFK talks the language of science while attacking science. You can't just handpick advisors, get the answer you want, & then claim you are following science

HHS adopts ACIP rec to remove thimerosal from flu shots This is how science works under RFK Jr: ☑️ RFK has a long held grievance against vaccines ☑️ He fires all experts on ACIP & installs loyalists ☑️ ACIP recs he remove thimerosal ☑️ He accepts, saying he's abiding by science Wow!

Lawsuit against RFK's COVID vaccine recs. He has actively undermined public confidence in vaccines & flouted federal law. His actions are arbitrary & capricious, ignoring science RFK is acting unlawfully and unethically, endangering public health jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

In The India Forum, we explore how India can implement the WHO Pandemic Agreement to champion global solidarity. From equity & tech transfer to One Health & PABS, the Pharmacy of the World has an important role in treaty implementation. www.theindiaforum.in/health/who-p...

CDC’s ACIP joint statement reads like propaganda masquerading as science. It’s a chilling reminder that we should have little confidence in CDC’s recommendations under Secretary Kennedy’s purview

RFK says US won’t fund GAVI until it gains trust. There’s a clear pattern here. The Health Secretary spouts falsities about vaccines & sows doubt. He’s deeply distrusted. But he impugns the integrity of the most trustworthy people & organizations like ACIP members & GAVI

Senator Cassidy calls for a delay of ACIP meeting, noting how unqualified RFK appointees are. RFK has been stringing along the Senator. It is clear RFK was not fully transparent during his Senate hearings. It's good to see Cassidy asking for some accountability

Delighted to announce today @WHO re-authorized @oneillinstitute @GeorgetownLaw as The WHO/PAHO Collaborating on National & Global Health Law Our designation preceded formal US withdrawal from WHO My decades friendship w/ @WHO @pahowho @DrTedros @DirOPSPAHO is an enormous honor

ACIP meets June 25-26. CDC states, "ACIP comprises leading med & ph experts" But RFK fired them all & appointed vaccine skeptics & purveyors of disinformation I don't know how it is possible to trust CDC. That saddens me having worked with the agency for 40 years jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Skrmetti is a turning point for the rights of sexual minorities. In Blue states, gender affirming care will be lawful & red states will ban it. Transgender youth will be stigmatized & mentally distraught. States shouldn't have power to ban effective medical treatments

Evidence & truth is no longer accepted in US policy. RFK is packing ACIP with science skeptics. He's changing public health recs w/o evidence or a deliberative process. In JAMA, Dorit Reiss, Paul Offit, & I explain why science is at grave risk jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

As the Middle East conflict intensifies, consider the morality of all this. In @AMJPublicHealth, I offer a personal reflection. It's not about humanitarian law, power, or politics. It's really a moral issue about what children deserve for a decent life. ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10....

Just out in JAMA, Paul Offit, Doris Reiss, & I discuss the ACIP firings, & RFK's disregard of science, evidence, & good public administration. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

RFK’s assault on science is truly audacious He mass fires the nation’s top scientists Installs vaccine skeptics without any process or vetting Directs his hand picked appointees to review recs ACIP already made There’s no new evidence Just the pure politicization of science

As I depart for South Africa amid the social & moral turmoil of the US, we must reaffirm equity & solidarity. Why? Because it resonates so strongly with the interdependent nature of life & human flourishing for all.

Not content with mass firings, RFK attacks ACIP. He will take vaccines away, betraying his pledge to the Senate and all Americans. Childhood diseases will come roaring back. This is one of the saddest days for public health in my four decades of work x.com/seckennedy/s...