Is RFK Jr “evil nihilist” who will worsen US health care?

(MENAFN) The United States’ top public health official has made addressing what he calls a chronic illness epidemic his central goal. This broad category includes conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease—a crisis many health experts acknowledge.

However, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is also known for promoting controversial and scientifically unsupported health claims, including ideas that COVID-19 selectively affected ethnic groups or that chemicals in drinking water could influence children’s gender identity.

Since assuming office, Kennedy has cut thousands of positions within the Department of Health and Human Services and dismantled entire programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“On the one hand, it’s extraordinarily exciting to have a federal official take on chronic disease,” says Marion Nestle, a retired public health professor. “On the other, the dismantling of the federal public health apparatus cannot possibly help with the agenda.”

Kennedy faces harsh criticism from many in the medical and scientific communities. An infectious disease expert described him as an “evil nihilist.”

Yet, even some of his harshest critics concede that Kennedy brings energy and ambition to parts of healthcare that have long been overlooked. Could it be that this controversial figure, despite the opposition he faces, might actually make strides toward improving America’s health?

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