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Incoming Trump officials have tapped Dorothy Fink, an endocrinologist and career civil servant, as the interim secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Fink, who leads the health agency’s Office on Women’s Health and is a specialist in treating menopause, is in line to lead the nearly $2 trillion agency while Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for HHS secretary, undergoes Senate confirmation. (Diamond, 1/19)

Bipartisan critics of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are sharpening their arguments that he is unfit to serve as the nation’s top health official, embracing the extra time they have been given while Kennedy waits for his confirmation hearings to be scheduled. The Office of Government Ethics as of Friday was still evaluating Kennedy’s financial disclosures, which are required for potential Cabinet officials, delaying his anticipated hearings in front of the Senate’s finance and health committees. (Diamond, 1/18)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice to lead the nation’s health agencies, formally asked the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the authorization of all Covid vaccines during a deadly phase of the pandemic when thousands of Americans were still dying every week. Mr. Kennedy filed a petition with the F.D.A. in May 2021 demanding that officials rescind authorization for the shots and refrain from approving any Covid vaccine in the future. (Jewett, 1/17)

In dark bluejeans and work shirt, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood in a Texas farm field, faced a camera and outlined his plan to combat drug addiction. “I’m going to bring a new industry to these forgotten corners of America, where addicts can help each other recover from their addictions,” ... “We’re going to build hundreds of healing farms where American kids can reconnect to America’s soil, where they can learn the discipline of hard work that rebuilds self-esteem and where they can master new skills,” he continued. (Hoffman, 1/18)

Florida’s escalating revolt against water fluoridation stretched past midnight in Melbourne City Hall recently as dozens urged their local leaders to abandon the long-standing practice to prevent cavities and tooth decay. Speaker after speaker insisted they do not consent to be medicated. Several blamed their thyroid problems on the tooth-strengthening mineral. Another who identified herself as a “living woman” accused the city of violating her religious rights, claiming fluoride causes “spiritual suppression.” (Nirappil, 1/19)