Vinay Prasad: What Does RFK Jr. Get Right and Wrong?

What does Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. get right and wrong about science, vaccines, and health? Just asking questions. 

President-elect Donald Trump announced Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would be his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Food and Drug Adminstration, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, and several other health-related federal agencies. Trump wrote on X that "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," and  that "Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic." 

So will Kennedy—who has proposed removing fluoride from municipal tap water, and rolling back restrictions on everything from psychedelics to raw milk and ivermectin while banishing food additives and holding vaccine and other pharmaceutical manufacturers to stricter standards—Make America Healthy Again?

This week's guest will help us work through the good, bad, and unknown of RFK Jr.'s agenda. Vinay Prasad is a hematologist oncologist and Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. He's the author of several books about drug and medical policy and writes at the Substack Vinay Prasad's Observations and Thoughts.

This conversation took place LIVE on November 26.

Sources Referenced:

• Donald Trump announce RFK Jr. as his pick for HHS Secretary
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr on X: "FDA's war on public health is about to end…"
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr on X discussing flouride in water
• United States District Curt Northern District of Court decision on flouride
• The New York Times' seed oil "fact check"
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccination and Autism: A Nationwide Cohort Study - PubMed
• European Hep. B Vaccine Schedule
• Archival coverage of vaccine manufacturers' liability shield
• Galileo's Revenge by Peter Huber
• Health Affairs: The Revolving Door In Health Care Regulation (2004-2020)
• Politico: By the numbers: European drugmakers stuck between a dominant US and a rising China
• COVID‐19 vaccine induced myocarditis in young males: A systematic review - Knudsen - European Journal of Clinical Investigation
• United States: COVID-19 weekly death rate by vaccination status - Our World in Data
• Measles eradication: Measles | New England Journal of Medicine

• Producer: John Osterhoudt

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