RFK Jr. conspiracy theories and false claims, in his own words
[Edited and quoted from the original, but read the entire article]
1.Kennedy has falsely linked vaccines to autism
“I do believe that autism does come from vaccines,” he said last summer in an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters.
2.Kennedy falsely called the coronavirus vaccine the ‘deadliest vaccine ever made’
3.Kennedy promotes raw milk, stem cells and other controversial or debunked medical treatments
4.Kennedy argues government employees have an interest in ‘mass poisoning’ the American public
“The agency, the USDA, the FDA have been captured by the industries they’re supposed to regulate, and they all have an interest in subsidies and mass poisoning the American public,” Kennedy told Fox News in August.
5.Kennedy has suggested mass shootings committed by young people are spurred by antidepressants and video games.
6.Kennedy incorrectly suggests AIDS may not be caused by HIV
“They were doing phony, crooked studies to develop a cure that killed people without really being able to understand what HIV was, and pumping up fear about it constantly, not really understanding whether it was causing AIDS,” Kennedy said in an interview last summer with New York Magazine.
7.Kennedy falsely argues children’s gender identity can be impacted by water
8.Kennedy has falsely touted ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as effective covid treatments
9. Kennedy argued that covid-19 was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people
Kennedy said in a video recorded by the New York Post last July: “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
10.Kennedy claims 5G high-speed wireless network is used to ‘control our behavior’
Kennedy has claimed that 5G high-speed wireless network service is being used to “harvest our data and control our behavior.”
Public Trust in Scientists and Views on Their Role in Policymaking “Key findings
-76% of Americans express a great deal or fair amount of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests.
-Majorities view research scientists as intelligent (89%) and focused on solving real-world problems (65%).
-Communication is seen as an area of relative weakness for scientists.
-Americans are split over scientists’ role in policymaking.
-Democrats continue to express more confidence than Republicans in scientists, but ratings within the GOP have edged higher in the last year.”
Read the entire article. Many difference exist among population subgroups.
About health insurance/insurers
CMS to lower importance of ‘call center’ metric in Medicare Advantage star ratings “UnitedHealthcare, Centene and Humana have all sued the government this fall for downgrading their quality scores based on assessments of their customer support centers. Payers argued the measure had an outsized impact on final star ratings, and it seems that regulators agree.
’We have already put in place that [the call center metric] is going to have a smaller weighting on star ratings moving forward,’ CMS Medicare Director Meena Seshamani said Wednesday at the Milken Institute’s Future of Health Summit in Washington, D.C.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
A couple performance reports:
Advocate Health posts $885M operating gain through Q3
Henry Ford Health's operating income up $242M through Q3
About pharma
Vaccine maker stocks fall as Trump chooses RFK Jr. to lead HHS “The stocks fell in the final hour of trading as reports emerged about Trump’s expected pick. Moderna’s stock closed more than 5% lower on Thursday, shares of Novavax fell more than 7% and Pfizer’s stock ended more than 2% lower.
Shares of BioNTech, the German drugmaker that helped develop a Covid vaccine with Pfizer, closed more than 6% lower. British drugmaker GSK, which makes flu shots and several other vaccines, closed roughly 2% lower.”
New FDA rules for TV drug ads: Simpler language and no distractions “The new rules, which cover both TV and radio, instruct drugmakers to use simple, consumer-friendly language when describing their drugs, without medical jargon, distracting visuals or audio effects. A 2007 law directed the FDA to ensure that drug risk information appears ‘in a clear, conspicuous and neutral manner.’”
Read the whole article for explanations about what why the FDA is taking these steps.
About the public’s health
A Big Climate Goal Is Getting Farther Out of Reach “The report by the Climate Action Tracker, a research group, estimates that the climate and energy policies currently pursued by governments around the world would cause global temperatures to rise roughly 2.7 degrees Celsius, or 4.9 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels by 2100.
That estimate of future warming has barely budged for three years now, the group said.”
Recent Decade Saw Drop in Marijuana Use in U.S. Adolescents “The researchers found that the percentage of adolescents who reported current marijuana use dropped significantly from 23.1 percent in 2011 to 15.8 percent in 2021. There were also significant decreases in self-reports of trying marijuana for the first time before age 13 years (8.1 percent in 2011 to 4.9 percent in 2021). Similar significant decreases were seen for current use by race/ethnicity, with Asian, Hispanic, and White adolescents experiencing the steepest declines. The percentage of Black adolescents self-reporting marijuana use was significantly higher (20.5 percent) in 2021 compared with White (14.8 percent), Hispanic (16.7 percent), and Asian (5.1 percent) adolescents. While there were significant declines in current marijuana use for both girls and boys over time, in 2021, girls were more likely (17.8 percent) to currently use marijuana than boys (13.6 percent), but the opposite was true in 2011 (25.9 percent for boys versus 20.1 percent for girls).”
National-level and state-level prevalence of overweight and obesity among children, adolescents, and adults in the USA, 1990–2021, and forecasts up to 2050 “In 2050, in most states, a projected one in three adolescents (aged 15–24 years) and two in three adults (≥25 years) will have obesity.”
March of Dimes Report Card “In 2023, over 370,000 babies were born preterm—10.4% of all births—earning our nation a D+ for the third year in a row. In addition to the preterm birth rate, the report also includes indicators to better reflect the state of maternal and infant health in the US.”
You can also see stat-by-state comparisons. The only “A’ grade is Vermont.
About healthcare IT
Amazon One Medical rolls out telehealth treatment services in competition with Ro, Hims & Hers “Amazon One Medical is rolling out a new service to provide Prime members access to clinical treatments for common health and lifestyle conditions like men's hair loss and anti-aging skin care.
The new service builds on Amazon One Medical's existing Pay-per-visit telehealth service that offers healthcare for more than 30 common conditions.
The new service offers a subscription plan with low, upfront monthly pricing for a clinical visit, treatment plan, and free medication delivery. The service initially focuses on five conditions: anti-aging skin care treatment, men’s hair loss, erectile dysfunction, eyelash growth, and motion sickness.”
About healthcare quality
Fall 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade Shows Significant Progress in Patient Safety Nationwide Go to this link for national figures for specific practices. Go here to find the ratings of hospitals near you.
Unnecessary Back Surgery From the Lown Institute:
”KEY TAKEAWAYS
Over three years, U.S. hospitals performed more than 200,000 unnecessary back surgeries on Medicare beneficiaries. That’s one low-value back procedure every eight minutes.
These low-value back procedures cost Medicare about $2 billion in total over three years.
On average, 14% of spinal fusions/laminectomies met criteria for overuse, with individual hospital overuse rates ranging from less than 1% to more than 50%.
On average, 11% of patient visits for osteoporotic fracture resulted in an unnecessary vertebroplasty, with individual hospital rates of overuse ranging from zero to 50%.
New Hampshire, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania had the highest overuse rates of spinal fusion/laminectomy with rates over 18%. Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nevada had the highest overuse rates of vertebroplasty, with rates over 16%.
U.S. News Honor Roll hospitals had varied performance. At Cleveland Clinic fewer than 1% of patient visits with osteoporotic fracture resulted in an unnecessary vertebroplasty, compared to nearly 20% at Mayo Clinic Phoenix.
A total of 3,454 physicians performed a measurable number of low-value back surgeries. Over three years, these physicians received a total of $64 million from device and drug companies for consulting, speaking fees, meals, and travel, according to Open Payments data analyzed by Conflixis.”
