December 9th, 2024. To Members of the United States Senate:. We, the undersigned Nobel Laureates, are writing to ask you to. oppose the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of the. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).. The proposal to place Mr. Kennedy in charge of the federal agencies. responsible for protecting the health of American citizens and for. conducting the medical research that benefits our country and the. rest of humanity has been widely criticized on multiple grounds. In. addition to his lack of credentials or relevant experience in. medicine, science, public health, or administration, Mr. Kennedy has. been an opponent of many health-protecting and life-saving. vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio; a critic of. the well-established positive effects of fluoridation of drinking. water; a promoter of conspiracy theories about remarkably. successful treatments for AIDS and other diseases; and a belligerent. critic of respected agencies (especially the Food and Drug. Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National. Institutes of Health). The leader of DHHS should continue to nurture. and improve— not threaten—these important and highly respected. institutions and their employees.. In view of his record, placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would. put the public’s health in jeopardy and undermine America’s global. leadership in the health sciences, in both the public and commercial. sectors.
