Policy
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health department has consistently touted radical transparency as being key to its mission. Recent instances—the FDA’s decision not to disclose the recipients of three Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers and FDA and CDC choices not to publish vaccine-related papers—call this intent into question.
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While requests by government officials for anonymity when speaking to the media are nothing new, the practice attracts more scrutiny when the Department for Health and Human Services has pledged a commitment to “radical transparency.”
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—along with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER Director Vinay Prasad—argued against vaccine mandates, partly because they limited medical choice. This week, the FDA under their leadership approved updated COVID-19 vaccines with restrictions that do the same.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4, following the ouster of CDC Director Susan Monarez and tapping of HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill as her interim replacement.
The CDC director—the first to be confirmed by the Senate under new legislation—has been ousted after less than a month following internal unrest regarding new, more restrictive approvals for updated COVID-19 vaccines, according to multiple sources.
Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner during the first Trump administration, wrote in a JAMA editorial that China is speeding drugs to market and could potentially surpass the U.S. in the innovation game.
The MIT professor of management, who already sits on the CDC’s revamped immunization advisory committee, is a known skeptic of vaccines, particularly mRNA technology.
The White House has denied reports that the government could soon ban COVID-19 vaccines, noting that in the absence of an official announcement, “any discussion about HHS policy should be dismissed as baseless speculation.”
Thousands of employees across the Department of Health and Human Services are set to lose their collective bargaining rights in a move that American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley called “illegal and immoral.”
There’s still much more to come from the White House on tariffs, but the European Union has now reached a trade agreement with the U.S.
In this episode presented by Cresset, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses clinical trial fail rates and AI’s potential to reduce preclinical costs with Mutlu Dogruel, VP of AI and Mark Mackey, CSO of Cresset.
Hundreds of HHS Staffers Accuse RFK Jr. of ‘Sowing Public Mistrust’ Against CDC After Shooting at HQ
In an open letter, Health and Human Services employees asked the Secretary to stop and disavow the spread of health misinformation, particularly about vaccines, infectious diseases and federal health agencies.