12/07/2025
As a pediatrician, I feel a responsibility to speak directly to parents about the public health implications of placing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services. Now that he has been nominated and confirmed as HHS Secretary, he oversees the agencies that guide vaccine policy, childhood immunization schedules, disease surveillance, scientific research, and emergency public health response. These decisions affect every child and family I care for.
For many years, Kennedy has earned significant income from vaccine-skeptical advocacy, legal consulting, speaking appearances, and book royalties. His bestselling book The Real Anthony Fauci promotes conspiratorial claims about public health institutions, while Vax-Unvax selectively highlights studies suggesting vaccine harm despite decades of high-quality research confirming vaccine safety. These books and public statements have been financially profitable, which creates a real ethical concern: Kennedy benefits financially from increasing public mistrust of vaccines. A public health leader should never personally profit from undermining the tools that keep children safe.
Equally important, Kennedy has no formal medical, epidemiological, or pediatric training, yet now oversees the CDC, FDA, and national vaccine programs. His long history of dismissing established vaccine science stands in stark contrast to the consensus held by pediatricians, infectious disease specialists, and public health experts around the world. Vaccines have saved more children’s lives than almost any other medical intervention. Weakening trust in them does not just weaken science—it weakens the safety net protecting our babies, toddlers, teenagers, and medically fragile patients.
With Kennedy at the head of HHS, policy decisions may be shaped by ideology, litigation interests, and personal financial incentives instead of peer-reviewed evidence. This raises legitimate concerns: delayed vaccine recommendations, lower vaccination rates, reduced herd immunity, and a greater risk of outbreaks of diseases we have worked hard to control. These are not abstract worries. They are real risks to infants too young to be fully vaccinated, children with chronic illnesses, grandparents undergoing chemotherapy, and newborns who rely on the immunity of others to survive.
As a pediatrician, my commitment is—and always will be—to the health and safety of your children. Parents deserve clear, evidence-based guidance, not policy driven by personal profit or ideological crusades. Vaccines remain one of the safest, most rigorously studied, and most life-saving tools we have. My concern is that placing an anti-vaccine advocate with financial conflicts of interest at the top of HHS threatens the stability of our nation’s public health protections and the trust families need to confidently keep their children safe.
I encourage every parent to stay informed, ask questions, and rely on medical professionals who are trained to weigh risk, interpret evidence, and prioritize your child’s well-being above all else. My promise to you is unchanged: I will continue to base my guidance on science, compassion, and decades of clinical evidence—not politics, profit, or conspiracy.
