Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, instantly turning the federal health apparatus into a political battleground. Critics are sounding alarms over his history of vaccine skepticism, while supporters view the appointment as a long-overdue disruption of capture by pharmaceutical interests.
On Modern Wisdom, commentator Isabel Brown argued that the media's reaction to the nomination reveals a defensive establishment. "I only saw attack headlines and articles against him for somehow being anti-science or not following the expert advice of all of the people who work for him at our Department of Health and Human Services, that the science is settled, these things are so unbelievably safe," Brown said, pointing specifically to the debate surrounding SSRIs. She suggested that the rigid insistence on "settled science" from department officials feels reminiscent of past public health messaging that ultimately lost the public's trust.
The coming months will test whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can successfully steer the Department of Health and Human Services or if internal resistance from career bureaucrats will grind his reform agenda to a halt.