Ever since Trump tapped bona fide conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and pledged to let him “go wild” on public health, a palpable sense of dread has loomed large. And it’s only getting worse: On Friday, the New York Times reported that Kennedy’s even more aggressively anti-vaxx lawyer, Aaron Siri — a man who has petitioned the FDA to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine — is apparently helping him pick out federal health officials for the incoming administration.
Kennedy has “privately expressed interest” in making Siri general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services. “I love Aaron Siri,” Kennedy said in a November podcast episode hosted by Del Bigtree, ICAN’s founder and the former communications director for Kennedy’s presidential campaign. “There’s nobody who’s been a greater asset to the medical-freedom movement than him."
In 2022, Siri filed a petition targeting the polio vaccine on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network, or ICAN, a nonprofit that bills itself as a proponent of “medical freedom.” In his petition, Siri argued that the FDA has not conducted sufficient safety studies on the vaccine, which has protected Americans from a virus that can cause lifelong paralysis, since a nationwide immunization campaign in the 1950s. Siri has also filed to revoke FDA approval of the hepatitis B vaccine and has petitioned to “pause distribution” of 13 other critical inoculations, including those that protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and hepatitis A
Donald Trump has picked vaccine sceptic and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, commonly known by his initials RFK Jr, has a history of spreading health information that scientists say is false. If his nomination is ratified by the Senate, he will lead a huge agency overseeing everything from food safety to medical research and welfare programmes. The executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA) said the organisation will "absolutely oppose" Kennedy's nomination.
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