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New RFK Jr. Pick for Vaccine Panel: ‘I Was Not Anti-Vaccine. I Am Now.’
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday expanded a key federal vaccine advisory panel to include more critics of vaccines who have contradicted mainstream medical guidance, including one who has described herself as an “anti-vaxxer.”
His new appointments, Kimberly Biss and Adam Urato, are OB/GYNs who were outspoken critics of coronavirus vaccines during pregnancy. A Washington Post review of their past comments in interviews, podcast appearances and social media found their criticism of vaccines, particularly for pregnant women, goes deeper.
Kennedy has directed a wholesale change in the composition and direction of the once-obscure committee that influences which vaccines doctors administer and compels insurers to cover them. Departing from long-standing federal immunization guidance, the advisers last year made changes to recommendations on hepatitis B, influenza and covid. The shifts have alarmed medical groups, state health departments and public health experts, who say the changes put children at greater risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.
After Sowing Distrust in Fluoridated Water, Kennedy and Skeptics Turn to Obstructing Other Fluoride Sources
Last year, when Utah lawmakers passed the nation’s first statewide ban on community water fluoridation, they included a provision making it easier for people to get fluoride supplements without having to visit a dental provider. This would make fluoride available through individual choice, rather than “mass public dosing,” as a Utah House of Representatives webpage put it — part of the rising rhetoric of skepticism that’s led to rollbacks of water fluoridation, a proven method to reduce tooth decay.
“It’s what I like to refer to as the win-win, right?” Speaker Mike Schultz said on a June episode of the “House Rules” podcast from the Utah House. “Those that want fluoride can now get fluoride easier, and those that don’t want fluoride in their drinking water don’t have to have that.”
But even as critics point to fluoride supplements as an alternative — along with fluoride toothpaste, rinses and varnishes — many are creating barriers to these same products.
Under U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s oversight, the Food and Drug Administration said it issued notices to four businesses about their ingestible fluoride supplements for children and also put out new guidance for health professionals.
RFK Jr.’s New Food Pyramid Heads to School Cafeterias as Advocates Cry for More Funding
The release of a new food pyramid has been met with mixed reactions by school food advocates, who say changes to the cafeteria menu will need financial backing. While there is skepticism regarding the science behind the new guidelines, which were unveiled last week by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., schools are more concerned about any infrastructure and training to implement them.
The new guidelines, taking the form of an upside-down pyramid, show vegetables, fruits, proteins, dairy and healthy fats at the top and whole grains at the bottom.
Kennedy, who has long railed against how much ultra-processed food Americans consume, said “whole, nutrient-dense food is the most effective path to better health and lower health care costs” while introducing the guidance.
Societies Seek to Halt ACIP, Bill Includes GAVI Funding, America First Global Health Strategy
A group of public health societies, led by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) will seek to prevent the upcoming February Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting from taking place. The AAP and groups, including the American Public Health Association and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, have also asked to vacate recent changes to the pediatric immunization schedule.
“We are confident that we will demonstrate for the court that this administration has acted arbitrarily and capriciously in revisions to the childhood immunization schedule and, furthermore, that the current ACIP will continue this destructive pattern if allowed to continue meeting,” said Richard Hughes IV, an attorney for the plaintiffs, in an AAP press release. A hearing on the plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction is scheduled for February 13.
Despite President Donald Trump saying all assistance to GAVI, the vaccine alliance would be cut six months ago, the US Senate and House of Representatives have included funding for the organization in their foreign assistance appropriations bill. The bill still needs a vote in both chambers before being presented to the president for approval before it can be signed into law.
The United States has provided 13% of GAVI’s annual funding since its inception in 2001. In June 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said GAVI would not get any more US dollars until it worked to “re-earn the public trust” and “start taking vaccine safety seriously.”
H.H.S. Reverses Decision to Cut $2 Billion for Mental Health and Addiction Services
Less than 24 hours after the Trump administration informed more than 2,000 addiction and mental health programs nationwide that it was immediately terminating almost $2 billion of their funding, the administration reversed course and reinstated the money.
An administration official confirmed Wednesday night that the money was being restored, but declined to say why.
The decision followed furious lobbying by lawmakers from both parties to restore the cuts and a letter to the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with signatures from 100 House members. “These are cuts he should not have issued in the first place,” Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement after reports of the reversal.
“This episode has only created uncertainty and confusion for families and health care providers.” she added. “I hope this reversal serves as a lesson learned. Congress holds the power of the purse, and the Secretary must follow the law.” On Tuesday, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which Mr. Kennedy oversees, had sent a form letter to the programs about the cuts.
As MAHA Wages War on Pesticides, the GOP Is Caught in the Middle
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement’s crusade against pesticides is creating divisions in the Republican Party, as some members back the industry while others stand with MAHA activists. As the MAHA movement, spearheaded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., gains power and influence within the GOP, efforts to limit liability for the pesticide industry are also growing on numerous fronts.
The issue is coming to a head in Congress, at the Supreme Court and on the state level, while other Republicans remain at the forefront of pushing pro-pesticide policies.
“I don’t know what these Republicans are thinking, because this is a really powerful conservative movement that doesn’t want this, and I think that they don’t have the memo yet that they need to be lining up with MAHA, because they really stand to lose their seat,” activist Kelly Ryerson said.
Republicans have traditionally been supportive of big business. But the MAHA movement is vocally skeptical of pharmaceutical, agriculture and chemical companies.
