HHS Disputes WSJ Report That RFK Jr. Plans To Sack Entire Health Panel for Being ‘Too Woke’

The Department of Health and Human Services is challenging a report that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to remove all the members of another advisory panel, this time because the members are too “woke.”The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that all 16 members of the United States Preventive Services Task Force are facing removal by Mr. Kennedy.The panel, staffed by volunteers with medical expertise, determines which preventive screenings must be covered by health insurance providers.The communications director for HHS, Andrew Nixon, disputes the Journal report. He tells the New York Sun via email, “No final decision has been made on how the USPSTF can better support HHS’ mandate to Make America Healthy Again.”The task force’s work was the focus of a recent Supreme Court case involving coverage of HIV-prevention drugs. The court upheld the right of the panel members to decide on coverage requirements but also affirmed that the health secretary has the right to remove anyone from the panel at his whim.The American Conservative magazine recently called for Mr. Kennedy to kill the task force, describing it as a “woke bureaucracy” that has been taken over by left-wing ideology.If Mr. Kennedy gets rid of all of the panel members it won’t be unprecedented. Last month, he fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. That panel traditionally establishes recommendations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy.“Under my direction, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is putting the restoration of public trust above any pro- or antivaccine agenda,” Mr. Kennedy wrote in making the announcement. “The public must know that unbiased science guides the recommendations from our health agencies.”Mr. Kennedy replaced the panel members with eight individuals, many with histories of vaccine skepticism. One new member quit before the group’s first meeting in June. The panel says it is creating work groups to re-evaluate the CDC’s recommended vaccine schedules for children and adolescents.In another controversial move, Mr. Kennedy has worked to remove fluoride from the American water supply. Mr. Kennedy says that fluoride is a “dangerous neurotoxin,” and links it to conditions such as arthritis, bone fractures, and thyroid disease.The American Dental Association has long touted fluoride as a cavity-fighting savior.

HHS Disputes WSJ Report That RFK Jr. Plans To Sack Entire Health Panel for Being ‘Too Woke’

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