Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nobel Laureate Group Details Reasons Why RFK Jr. Should Not Lead HHS
More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The letter, obtained by The New York Times, marks the first time in recent memory that Nobel laureates have banded together against a Cabinet choice, according to Richard Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine, who helped draft the letter. (Rosenbluth, 12/9)
The pharmaceutical industry is not lobbying senators to stop the confirmation of long-time critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the top health care role in the Trump administration. RFK Jr., President-elect Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, has lambasted the pharmaceutical industry and spread discredited ideas about vaccines. But his rhetoric has not yet compelled drugmakers to try to convince senators to oppose his confirmation. (Zhang and Wilkerson, 12/9)
President-elect Donald Trump’s top political appointees want you to buy supplements. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Trump’s pick for surgeon general, sells her own line of vitamins. Kash Patel, Trump’s choice to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, recommended pills on Truth Social in February that he said could “rid your body of the harms” from Covid-19 vaccines. (Mosbergen, 12/9)
As Donald Trump’s Cabinet begins to take shape, those on both sides of the abortion debate are watching closely for clues about how his picks might affect reproductive rights policy in the president-elect’s second term. Trump’s cabinet picks offer a preview of how his administration could handle abortion after he repeatedly flip-flopped on the issue on the campaign trail. (Fernando, 12/9)
