The U.S. health secretary’s dismissal of an influential vaccine advisory committee this week sowed uncertainty about the future of vaccine recommendations nationwide. On Wednesday, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced eight new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which makes recommendations that are adopted by doctors, pharmacists, insurers and patients. His nominations included…
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a defiant defense on Wednesday of his drastic overhaul of federal health agencies as House Democrats accused him of violating the law by shuttering whole divisions and cutting funding appropriated by Congress for medical research. “We are not withholding money for lifesaving research,” Mr. Kennedy insisted. After a…
Utah and Tennessee passed laws requiring foods containing vaccines to be classified as drugs, even though no such foods are on the market. Legislators pointed to a University of California study that is investigating whether it is possible to put vaccines in lettuce. “You eat a bunch of this lettuce, take a bunch of these…
After weeks of confusion about his plans for autism research, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Wednesday that his department would build a “real-world platform” that would allow researchers to hunt for causes of the disorder by examining insurance claims, electronic medical records and wearable devices like smart watches. The department will draw…
With the United States facing its largest single measles outbreak in 25 years, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will direct federal health agencies to explore potential new treatments for the disease, including vitamins, according to an H.H.S. spokesman. The decision is the latest in a series of actions by the nation’s…
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. escalated his war against the food industry on Tuesday, declaring that “sugar is poison.” Mr. Kennedy’s comment came during a highly publicized news conference where he also asserted that he has “an understanding” with major food manufacturers to remove petroleum-based food colorings from their products by 2026. No one…
In a speech broadcast to the Food and Drug Administration’s Maryland campus on Friday morning, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. introduced himself as the nation’s health secretary with a meandering speech touching on everything from birds of prey to pollution in Lake Erie to the C.I.A. Mr. Kennedy told the agency staff members, in the throes…
The sun was bursting through the sandstone arch of Window Rock in northeastern Arizona, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in bluejeans, was finally in his element: on a hike. It was the last day of his multistate Make American Healthy Again tour, designed to highlight various aspects of Mr. Kennedy’s plan to fight…
A day after attending the funeral of an unvaccinated child who died of measles, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will kick off a tour through Southwestern states on Monday, spotlighting initiatives that emphasize nutrition and lifestyle choices as tools for combating disease. The Make America Healthy Again tour, which will take Mr. Kennedy through…
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spoken of an “existential threat” that he said can destroy the nation. “We have the highest chronic disease burden of any country in the world,” Mr. Kennedy said at a hearing in January before the Senate confirmed him as the secretary of Health and Human Services. And on Monday he…
