While I hope that RFK is able to tackle “big food” companies, as I agree that is likely a driving force behind much of the obesity epidemic in the US, I suspect the pushback from lobbyists will minimize his impact.
In other areas I’m doubtful…
While it may sound reasonable to let each individual choose whether or not to take a given vaccine, the public-health ramifications could be grave. Infectious diseases are quick to roar back into circulation when immunization falls below a certain level. In 2019, RFK Jr. visited the Pacific island of Samoa and amplified doubts about the safety of a measles vaccine. As already shaky vaccination rates continued to plummet after his visit, a measles outbreak ensued that killed 83 people, most of them children. Kennedy has denied that his visit there had anything to do with a decrease in vaccinations.
Source: How RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement Could Radically Transform Public Health | Vanity Fair
Written by BY KATHERINE EBAN
Author of the book “bottle of lies”:
Other commentary:
See his full thread here: x.com
And, as I scroll through Twitter I come across more criticisms:
“RFK Jr. is the poster boy for the new Trump administration, a rich man who never has had to worry about a thing in his life, putting the lives of ordinary Americans in jeopardy because he thinks he knows better than scientists”
Let’s take his claims on fluoride as an example. RFK Jr. wrote on Xin early November: “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.” Um—no. In high doses over prolonged periods of time—as with many other substances (even water and oxygen!)—exposure to fluoride can be a problem, but not in the small concentrations we see in drinking water. Lest we forget: Fluoride has been a bugaboo of the far right since the 1950s, when fluoridation was supposed to be part of a communist plot to take over America.
And since conspiracy theories know no borders, we can also look at a natural experiment up in Calgary, Canada, for further evidence. In 2011, Calgary’s’s city council banned fluoridation, and now is set to reintroduce it next year. Why? Because since fluoridation ended, cavities in children’s teeth have become more numerous and larger, often requiring treatment under general anesthesia and/or intravenous antibiotic therapy to fight infections associated with tooth decay. As one researcher at the University of Calgary has said, the decision to ban fluoridation had a clear result: It was a source of “avoidable and potentially life-threatening disease, pain, suffering, misery and expense…especially [for] very young children and their families.”
and other reasons) but wish you’d do the same as your friend, why wait and risk it?
