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Will RFK Jr. Make America Healthy Again?
“Will RFK Jr. Make America Healthy Again?” is presented by the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.
About the event: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the most controversial pick to become the nation’s health secretary in modern history. He has spent decades spreading misinformation and fears about vaccines and the myth they cause autism, he’s voiced skepticism that HIV causes AIDs, and he’s suggested a link between school shootings and growing use of antidepressants. RKF Jr.’s confirmation signals major changes at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He’s vowed to shift the federal government’s focus from infectious diseases toward an “epidemic” of chronic diseases, such as obesity and autoimmune conditions — with a particular focus on processed foods and chemical exposures. The political, legal and economic challenges facing him — from Democrats, doctors, researchers and business leaders — will be formidable, and Kennedy lacks prior government or health leadership experience. In this webinar, we will examine what Kennedy’s arrival at HHS will mean for the American health system and key federal agencies such as the FDA, CDC and NIH that would fall under his purview. We’ll ask how this unorthodox appointment will impact our public health system and access to vaccines. And we’ll discuss how the ambitions of the “Make American Healthy Movement” might confront the realities of America’s “epidemic” of chronic disease.
Featured Speakers:
– Dan Gorenstein, founder and executive editor of Tradeoffs
– Isabella Cueto, chronic disease reporter at STAT
– James Hodge, JD, Peter Kiewit Foundation Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and director of the Center for Public Health Law and Policy at Arizona State University