I was initially somewhat open to the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head up the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in part because I revered Bobby Kennedy and knew of his son’s commitment to a cleaner environment.
What I’ve since learned about his bizarre public health theories makes me very afraid that confirming him will result in a deadly resurgence of childhood illnesses like polio and measles.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccination conspiracy theories already have had deadly consequences. Following his visit to Samoa in 2019, a catastrophic measles outbreak killed 83 people, primarily infants and children. Kennedy’s misinformation and rhetoric against vaccines caused many Samoans to be hesitant to vaccinate their children against measles, which is extremely contagious. Josh Green, Hawaii’s governor, and a physician, was invited to Samoa by the prime minister to help contain the outbreak. Gov. Green said it “was caused in large part by RFK Jr.” and called him “a terrible pick for HHS secretary.”
The devastating events that followed RFK Jr’s visit to Samoa could be a preview of what’s to come. Samoa has just over 200,000 citizens, while West Virginia is eight times larger, with a population of over 1.7 million. A similar outbreak in our state, if vaccine requirements are lifted, could conceivably result in the deaths of eight times as many people, or 664 West Virginians, mostly infants and children.
HHS is responsible for approving medicines, funding lifesaving research and coordinating responses to everything from pandemics to natural disasters. Shockingly, Kennedy said that he “does not believe that infectious disease is an enormous threat to human health” and pledged to stop funding research for treatments and cures. He has expressed many other outlandish views not backed by scientific research, including his rejection of the science establishing that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS.
Kennedy has said he has a list of hundreds of HHS employees he wants to fire. His confirmation would drastically diminish the effectiveness of the public health institutions that keep Americans safe, and put vital programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, at risk.
The American people deserve a leader at HHS who believes in science, including the value of preventing life-threatening diseases like polio and measles through vaccination, instead of someone who promotes bizarre theories not backed by legitimate research. To avoid the very real risk of harm to West Virginians and all Americans, I urge Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, both R-W.Va., to listen to the doctors and scientists who live and work in West Virginia, and vote against his confirmation.
Barbara Evans Fleischauer, a Democrat who represented Monongalia County for over two decades, served longer than any other female delegate in the West Virginia House, including 26 years on the Committee on Health and Human Resources.
