Category: Politics and Regulation

MAHA: Echoes of The Secret
When you look at Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" movement, there is a notable echo of an idea once promoted by Oprah Winfrey, namely The Secret, combined with antivax and alt-med tropes.

An Open Letter to Dr. Vinay Prasad
Please recognize that you are now influencing the national public health policy and understand that being in authority is a very different job than simply questioning authority

The willful blindness of RFK Jr’s supporters
Shrug, move on and never admit you were wrong

The attack on the NIH has begun
Donald Trump has been sworn in, and his new administration has immediately turned its sights on the NIH. The danger to US biomedical research has never been more acute.

Trouble in (MAHA) paradise?
Even as President Donald Trump is inaugurated today and his pick for HHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. prepares to face confirmation hearings, there is trouble in "make America healthy" paradise.

Gaslighting RFK Jr.’s role in the deadly Samoan measles outbreak
One of many shameful incidents in the life of antivax activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was his promotion of anti-MMR fear mongering during a measles epidemic in Samoa. Now that he could become HHS Secretary, his apologists are frantically trying to gaslight you. Here's how.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is NOT a “vaccine skeptic.” He is antivax. Period.
I wish I didn't have to write this post, but the press won't stop referring to RFK Jr. as a "vaccine skeptic." He is not. He is antivax.

Homeopathy: Magical thinking, not medicine
The Science-Based Medicine blog was established way back in 2008. Since that time, contributors to this blog have been sounding the alarm about the harmful effects of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories related to health. Few people in positions of authority heeded these warnings or recognized the severity of the threat over the next decade. Sometimes we as health professionals were even mocked...

Are NIH study sections a waste of time?
Since the nomination of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for NIH Director, I've been seeing a suggestion from certain contrarian doctors for a "randomized trial" of study sections vs. a "modified lottery" to determine which grant applications are funded by the NIH. Just what the heck is Dr. Vinay Prasad talking about?
The Trashing of Science by Robert F Kennedy Jr
If confirmed, Kennedy will keep trashing science and will continue exploiting the trashed science he helps create for his own benefit.