Trump names RFK Jr. as his pick to lead HHS

摘要:If confirmed to the role, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would oversee the country’s top health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in a controversial choice that would elevate the prominent vaccine skeptic to a position overseeing the nation’s leading health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trump named Kennedy to the role via a post on Truth Social Thursday afternoon.

“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health,” Trump wrote. “Mr. Kennedy will restore these agencies to the traditions of gold standard scientific research, and beacons of transparency, to end the chronic disease epidemic, and to make America great and healthy again!”

A Democrat turned independent candidate for president, Kennedy threw his support behind Trump after ending his own campaign. At rallies, Trump pledged to let Kennedy “go wild” on healthcare, seeming to embrace Kennedy’s vision to go after the food and drug industries, which he has long criticized.

For years, Kennedy has crusaded against the adoption of approved vaccines for infectious diseases, citing disproven links to autism and other health conditions. His appointment to a role leading an agency in charge of both the FDA, which approves vaccines, and the CDC, which develops recommendations for their use in specific populations, is likely to raise alarms among many public health officials and experts

News of Kennedy’s nomination, which was first reported by Politico before the stock market’s close, sent shares in vaccine makers like Pfizer, Moderna and GSK down sharply. The XBI, an exchange traded fund that tracks the broader biotechnology industry, also fell.

Kennedy has also called for the elimination of fluoride from the country’s water supply, targeting an initiative that’s been credited with improving the dental health of Americans.

More recently, Kennedy has said Trump is tasking him with ridding the FDA and other regulatory agencies of corruption, an accusation for which he’s offered no evidence. In posts to X, he’s claimed he will end the “FDA’s war on public health,” citing what he describes as regulator’s “aggressive suppression” of stem cells, raw milk, nutraceuticals and the malaria pill hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment.

He’s also signaled a desire to reshape the agency and its workforce, saying in a recent interview that “entire departments” at the agency “have to go.”

“We have a generational opportunity to bring together the greatest minds in science, medicine, industry, and government to put an end to the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy said in a statement on X. “I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture so they can pursue their mission to make Americans once again the healthiest people on Earth.”

Trump’s announcement of Kennedy as his pick for HHS follow’s the president-elect’s nomination of other controversial figures to prominent posts within his administration, including former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Fox News host Peter Hegseth as secretary of defense.

Presidential cabinet nominations, among them HHS secretary, must be confirmed by a majority of the Senate. If confirmed, Kennedy would succeed Xavier Becerra, who’s led the department under President Joe Biden. With an incoming Republican majority of likely 53 senators, Kennedy could afford to lose only three Republican votes, assuming all Democrats vote against his nomination.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information, including from a statement by Kennedy.

美疫苗股集体下挫!特朗普竟任命反疫苗人士担任美国卫生部长

特朗普宣布将提名前独立总统竞选者小罗伯特·肯尼迪为美国新政府的卫生与公众服务部部长。而对制药公司来说,这相当于噩梦成真。

肯尼迪若获得参议院批准,出任美国卫生与公众服务部部长,其将领导美国最大的部门之一,管辖范围包括美国医疗保险和医疗补助健康保险计划、食品和药物管理局、美国国立卫生研究院以及疾病控制和预防中心。

而肯尼迪的一些政策主张相当激进。他自2005年以来一直宣传反对疫苗的信息,并公开表示美国政府内部存在针对公共卫生的不透明信息。尽管他的很多说法都被卫生专家证伪并批评,但肯尼迪依旧在相关问题上态度强硬。

早在10月,特朗普就曾对帮助自己竞选的肯尼迪许诺道,如果他再次入住白宫,将允许肯尼迪在健康问题上“疯狂”行事。

肯尼迪本人则在特朗普宣布胜选后表示,将推动清理一些腐败的公共部门,如食品和药物管理局下属的营养部门,其必须被全部裁撤。

一场灾难?

肯尼迪出身于政治世家,其父亲是已故美国司法部长、民主党参议员罗伯特·肯尼迪,伯父则是美国前总统约翰·肯尼迪。

肯尼迪本人早早投身于环境问题与儿童福利的事业之中,在美国地方检察官的履历之后,加入并创办了多个社会组织,以呼吁公众与当局关注卫生与健康领域。此外,他还因多次赢得了与一些大企业关于污染方面的诉讼而声名大噪。

从这一角度来看,现年70岁的肯尼迪在公众卫生方面的经验相当丰富,比之特朗普此前任命的国防部长Pete Hegseth等人来说更容易融入政府事务。

特朗普在宣布任命时强调,长期以来,美国人一直受到工业食品公司和制药集团的压榨,利益人士在公共卫生问题上进行欺骗、误导和造假。他希望肯尼迪能够清理联邦卫生机构内部的腐败。

但另一方面,肯尼迪的施政目标引发了市场的广泛不安。在肯尼迪被特朗普确认提名后,美股周四交易的最后一个小时内,与疫苗相关的制药股集体下挫。

其中,Moderna股价收跌超过5%,Novavax股价收跌超7%,辉瑞下跌超2%。其他制药商如德国BioNTech也出现超过6%的跌幅。而这些股票在美股盘后还被进一步抛售。

倡导组织美国进步中心卫生政策副总裁Andrea Ducas表示,特朗普选择肯尼迪对于美国来说无异于一场灾难。肯尼迪对于医疗科学的长期怀疑态度可能会危及美国在公共卫生方面的成就,尤其是新冠时期,疫苗曾帮助避免了无数的感染和死亡。