A former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, expressed concern this Friday about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plans for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“I believe that if RFK follows through with his intentions, and it seems to me that he will and that he can do so, it will cost lives in this country,” Gottlieb warned our sister network CNBC, referring to Kennedy, whom President-elect Donald Trump has said he will nominate for Secretary of Health.
“Measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates are going to go down,” added Gottlieb, who led the FDA during the first Trump Administration. “And like I said, if we lose another 5%, which could happen in the next year or two, we will see large measles outbreaks. For every 1,000 cases of measles that occur in children, there will be one death. And in this country we are not good at diagnosing and treating measles.”
If confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy’s role would include oversight of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health and the FDA, the agency charged with reviewing and approving new vaccines.
Gottlieb referenced Kennedy’s long history of vaccine skepticism, which includes false claims that measles, mumps and rubella vaccines can cause autism.
This is a theory that has been debunked numerous times and originated in a discredited study from the 1990s led by a researcher who later lost his medical license.
According to the CDC, “to date, studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with (autism spectrum disorder).” Kennedy has also cast doubt on the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines, which health experts say are completely safe.
In a 2021 meeting with Louisiana state legislators, Kennedy called—unsubstantiated—the coronavirus vaccine “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
In the days after Trump was projected to retake the White House, Kennedy told NBC News that he would not seek to unilaterally ban vaccines.
“If the vaccines work for someone, I’m not going to take them away from them. “People should have a choice, and that choice should be based on the best information,” he said. “So I will make sure that there are scientific studies of safety and efficacy available, and that people can make individual assessments about whether that product is good for them.”
Gottlieb also alluded to Kennedy’s other controversial ideas as reasons why some Republican senators may be reluctant to vote to confirm him in January, including his stance on abortion.
“I think there’s more skepticism in the Republican bloc than I think the press is reporting right now,” Gottlieb said.
“There will be state (agricultural) senators who will be concerned about (Kennedy Jr.’s) impact on food prices. “There will be principled pro-lifers who will be concerned about their positions on abortion, and there will be several senators interested in public health who will have deep concerns about their positions on vaccines,” the former FDA commissioner added.
Gottlieb also rejected the idea that Kennedy Jr. would not impose drastic changes in health policy in the United States, saying: “I’m not so sure that people really understand how Kennedy’s intention will be translated into policy or how seriously goes”.
To make his point, Gottlieb referenced something one of Kennedy Jr.’s advisers, Del Bigtree, said in November: “Bobby didn’t let himself be dragged through the mud for more than a decade just so he could compromise his values now that he’s finally “He entered the castle.”
Gottlieb added that while he does not speak for the president-elect, he was certain that Trump does not share Kennedy’s beliefs on vaccines.
“I spoke to President Trump about vaccines in my first term (when he was former commissioner),” Gottlieb said. “I don’t think these political initiatives reflect their views. I don’t think the president wants to see a resurgence of measles, he wants to see a resurgence of whooping cough in this country; God forbid we have cases of polio in this country. “He doesn’t want to see that.”
Representatives for Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Gottlieb’s remarks.
