HHS chief RFK Jr. says Americans should not take his medical advice

Take two of whatever you like and don’t call him in the morning.Robert F.

Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top public health official, argued Wednesday that Americans shouldn’t be taking medical cues from him. The Health and Human Services secretary made the stunning statement during a House Appropriations Committee hearing, after Rep.Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) asked, “If you had a child, would you vaccinate that child for measles?”Kennedy Jr., who has previously expressed regret that he vaccinated his children, was hesitant to respond. “For measles? Um … probably for measles,” the HHS chief reluctantly answered, before claiming that his opinions about vaccines are “irrelevant.”“I don’t want to seem like I’m being evasive,” RFK Jr., continued, as he tried to side-step the question, “but I don’t think people should be taking advice, medical advice, from me.” Pocan noted that he wasn’t asking the former environmental lawyer – who has no medical training – to dispense medical advice. “For me to answer that question directly, it will seem like I’m giving advice to other people, and I don’t want to be doing that,” the “Make America Healthy Again” proponent argued. The Wisconsin Democrat pointed out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – one of several federal health agencies that RFK Jr.

has been tasked to oversee –  “does give advice,” but Kennedy Jr.argued that Americans should do their own research. “What we’re going to try to do is to lay out the pros and cons, the risks and benefits, accurately, as we understand them with reputable studies,” the HHS secretary said. He went on to express concerns about the chickenpox vaccine and refused to vouch for the polio vaccine while repeatedly insisting, “I don’t want to give advice.” Kennedy Jr’s long history of vaccine skepticism threatened to derail his HHS confirmation in January, but he has since touted the measles vaccine as “the mos...