Trump chose an anti-vaxxer as Minister of Health
US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
This will put Kennedy in charge of a huge portfolio that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety, to medical research and the welfare programs Medicare and Medicaid.
“Americans have been suffocated for too long by the industrial food complex and pharmaceutical companies that have engaged in fraud, misinformation when it comes to public health,” Trump wrote on his Twitter account announcing the appointment.
Trump added that Kennedy will make “America great and healthy again.”
Kennedy is a former Democrat who entered this year’s presidential race as an independent candidate, but dropped out in August when he struck a deal with Trump to endorse him with the promise of a role in the Trump administration’s health policy.
Lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies
Kennedy has long been skeptical of vaccines. He is a lawyer who has built a loyal following over several decades, who admire his lawsuits against leading pharmaceutical and pesticide companies. He advocated stricter regulations on food ingredients.
Because of his position on vaccines, Kennedy is also a controversial figure among Democrats and some Republicans, which calls into question whether his nomination can be confirmed in the Senate, even the new Senate where the Republicans have a majority.
Kennedy used disinformation about the safety of vaccines, including the now completely discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection has 80,000 employees across the country. It includes the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and the National Institutes of Health.
Source: Beta
Photo: Beta_AP
Source: bizlife.rs
