What President Trump’s medical candidate RFK Jr. means for patients and drug companies

President Donald Trump is making one clear promise about who can take over the health of government during his second term as president. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a notorious vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist.

Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States, making an unusual comeback for a former president who refused to concede defeat just four years ago. President Trump ended his own campaign in the White House earlier this year last week, and President Kennedy, who supported Trump, “Big role” in medical care In his administration. Last month, President Trump said he would nominate Kennedy. “Go wild” about healthFood and Drug Regulation.

It’s unclear what exactly Kennedy’s role will be, but the possibility is already ringing alarm bells in the broader medical community. Some health experts say elevating Kennedy to even an unofficial Trump administration position could have serious consequences for patients, drug companies and the nation’s overall public health. said.

“I think it would turn the world upside down,” Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who has publicly criticized President Kennedy, told CNBC. “Things will not be based on scientific truth, they will just be based on what he and his followers believe. It will be free-for-all. It will be uncertainty and instability. It will be chaos and Sho.”

He said the “disruptions” could include lower vaccination rates, an increase in preventable diseases and increased mistrust in federal health agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It could exacerbate the country’s existing public health challenges, including: Decline in childhood vaccination rates Some experts say so for some preventable diseases. According to one study, the United States has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest proportion of people with multiple chronic conditions, and the highest maternal and child mortality rates of any other high-income country. 2023 report By the Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group.

Kennedy, who has no medical or scientific qualifications, believes drug companies and the federal health agencies that regulate them are making Americans’ health worse. He has suggested some vaccines should be taken off the market, a position taken by President Trump. He did not rule out the possibility of Monday..

The former environmental lawyer could also bring uncertainty to the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry relies on federal health agencies to approve new products, keep old ones on the market, and in some cases fund research and development. Although it will likely be difficult for Mr. Kennedy to change the drug approval process, experts say he is politicizing certain treatments he opposes and promoting others that have not been proven safe or effective. He said that there is a possibility of acquiring a new base for

Top leadership roles such as FDA chief require Senate confirmation, which some experts said could be a hurdle for Mr. Kennedy. However, the paper reported that Kennedy is meeting with Trump transition officials and could take on a broader position as White House “health czar” that would not require Senate confirmation. The Washington Post reported Saturday.

Drew Altman, president and CEO of the health policy group KFF, said that regardless of the position, Kennedy could get “another podium to amplify his voice.” Said it was expensive.

“We are giving one of the chief architects of health misinformation a national podium with the support of the president,” Altman told CNBC. “Many more people will listen to him, believe him and act on him, which could pose a risk to their health.”

Kennedy’s team did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

A second term for President Trump could allow Kennedy to elevate his anti-vaccine rhetoric, regardless of whether he holds a prominent role at a federal health agency.

Health experts say this will encourage more people to get coronavirus shots and routine immunizations against a variety of diseases that have saved millions of lives and prevented serious illness for decades. He said Americans could be deterred.

“By elevating his message, he normalizes people and parents opting out of vaccination schedules,” said Genevieve Cantor, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Southern California. “I think we could reasonably predict that child vaccination rates would decline and perhaps overall vaccinations would decline.”

real world data The CDC says routine vaccination rates for kindergarteners declined during the pandemic and have yet to recover. If President Kennedy succeeds in reducing infection rates further, experts say vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio and measles could return to the United States.

For companies that make shots, an increase in anti-vaccine rhetoric could lead to a drop in revenue. Pharmaceutical companies, etc. pfizer and moderna is still recovering from declining coronavirus vaccination rates in the U.S., which weighed on profits over the past two years.

Some experts say that giving President Kennedy the power to decide how much federal funding to spend on vaccine development could also affect the pharmaceutical industry’s ability to respond to new pandemics. Point out. he said. NBC News last year He said he would not prioritize researching, manufacturing and distributing vaccines in the face of a new pandemic, erroneously adding that “vaccines are causing more deaths than they probably could have avoided.” .

Kennedy’s record as a vaccine skeptic is extensive. He has been making misleading statements for a long time. false statement Others have made claims about the shot’s safety, including claiming it is linked to autism, despite numerous studies going back decades and debunking that link. are. Kennedy is the founder of the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, the nation’s most well-funded anti-vaccination group.

“He’s spreading misinformation to the point where children are suffering or dying, and he’s not stepping back or taking any responsibility for it,” Offit said.

He pointed to President Kennedy’s misinformation about the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. linked A measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019 killed dozens of children.

For Kennedy, it will likely be difficult to change the way vaccines and other treatments are approved, recommended and regulated, even through the leadership role of the FDA, CDC, or the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees both agencies. .

That could be good news for both patients and drug companies.

“The approval process is very clearly defined and run by civil servants,” said USC’s Cantor. “I don’t think he has a lot of influence over the day-to-day product approvals because that’s not how the FDA is organized and that’s not the role of the FDA commissioner. So I think this is something that I think we can trust to continue the process.” Masu.”

Recommendations regarding the approval, use, and application of vaccines under specific federal health programs are made by FDA and CDC advisory committees comprised of outside public health and medical experts. The same applies to other treatments and medical devices.

Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told CNBC that President Kennedy is trying to disrupt the “traditional regulatory oversight that protects us” by encouraging people with similar views on vaccinations and other treatments. He said he may try to add the committee to the committee.

However, members of these committees must undergo a rigorous nomination process. Many states that rely on advisory committee recommendations for vaccination schedules and mandates could also choose to ignore them if people sympathetic to Mr. Kennedy’s views join the committee. .

President Kennedy’s other proposals for overhauling federal health agencies are likely to be difficult to implement. He has proposed cutting funding and staffing at the FDA, but such changes may require proposals from Congress.

Last week, President Kennedy warned: Post to X “The FDA’s war on public health is nearing an end,” he said, hinting at plans to gut the agency of employees who disagree with his views.

He said the agency is promoting “hallucinogens, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapy, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunlight, exercise, nutritional supplements, and other products that promote and promote human health. “We are actively suppressing everything that can be done.” Pharmaceutical companies cannot obtain patents. ”

Kennedy is claimed earlier Hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin have been shown to be effective against the new coronavirus, but some studies say they are not effective. Hydroxychloroquine is an immunosuppressant drug and ivermectin is used to treat infections caused by parasites.

“He has embraced many treatments that are unproven and some are discredited for their specific uses,” Kanter said.

Both Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Trump have been vocal advocates for addressing the root causes of chronic diseases, rather than spending resources on treating them with pharmaceutical drugs. There are few details about what that means and what it means for drug companies, but experts say Kennedy has pushed misleading claims about what causes chronic disease. Ta.

The prevalence of chronic diseases that last more than a year and require continuous treatment is a serious problem in the United States.

The proportion of people in the United States with multiple chronic conditions is increasing, with approximately 42% having two or more chronic conditions. CDC. More than 40% of school-age children and adolescents have at least one. Chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity are also major drivers of health care costs in the United States, accounting for about 90% of the $4.1 trillion in annual health care spending, according to the CDC.

A source close to the former president’s campaign has revealed that Kennedy may be at the forefront of Operation Warp Speed ​​for Chronic Disease in Children under the Trump administration. he told NBC News last week.. This refers to the title of the new coronavirus vaccine development and distribution project during President Trump’s first term.

It’s unclear what the new program or Kennedy’s role will be, but the focus on chronic disease is consistent with his so-called “policy.” A Platform to Make America Healthy Again.

The initiative, a play on President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, aims to eliminate chemicals from food production and address the “root” causes of chronic disease, among other priorities that have largely bipartisan support. The aim is to combat and eliminate conflicts of interest in medical research. Environmental factors such as air pollution and diet contribute But President Kennedy is pushing unsubstantiated claims about certain food ingredients and minerals.

Kennedy last week proposed Recommends that all U.S. water systems remove fluoride from drinking water, It falsely claimed to be “industrial waste” associated with several medical conditions, including thyroid disease and neurodevelopmental disorders. President Trump later said the idea was “OK with me.”

However, fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in soil, water, and plants. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water is widely considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century due to its role in preventing tooth decay.

Cantor, of the University of Southern California, also said there is a risk of “oversimplifying complex health problems and attributing them to a few ‘root causes’,” especially when there is no scientific support. According to Kanter, chronic diseases are complex conditions that can be caused by multiple factors, including a patient’s genetics and socioeconomic status.

kennedys Nonprofit falsely links vaccines It cites misleading articles and studies showing that unvaccinated people have fewer chronic illnesses than vaccinated people.